Transfer of Pantoea citrea, Pantoea punctata and Pantoea terrea to the genus Tatumella emend. as Tatumella citrea comb. nov., Tatumella punctata comb. nov. and Tatumella terrea comb. nov. and description of Tatumella morbirosei sp. nov.

Pantoea citrea, Pantoea punctata and Pantoea terrea were described for strains isolated from fruit and soil originating in Japan. These three ‘Japanese’ species have been shown to be phylogenetically distant from other species of the genus Pantoea. It has been observed previously that, using multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA), the ‘Japanese’ species consistently formed a distinct clade with an extended branch length, casting doubt on the inclusion of these species within the genus Pantoea. Furthermore, the ‘Japanese’ species are closely related to Tatumella ptyseos, strains of which originate from human clinical specimens. DNA–DNA hybridization and phenotypic tests confirmed the observed phylogenetic distance of P. citrea, P. punctata and P. terrea from the genus Pantoea and the affiliation of these species with Tatumella. In addition, strains causing pink disease of pineapple, identified previously as P. citrea, were shown to represent a separate species by using 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, and MLSA and DNA–DNA hybridization data. The name Tatumella morbirosei sp. nov. with the type strain LMG 23360T (=BD 878T=NCPPB 4036T=CMC6T) is proposed to accommodate these strains. The new combinations Tatumella citrea (Kageyama et al. 1992) comb. nov. (type strain, SHS 2003T=ATCC 31623T=BD 875T=CCUG 30156T=CIP 105599T=DSM 13699T=JCM 8882T=LMG 22049T), Tatumella punctata (Kageyama et al. 1992) comb. nov. (type strain, SHS 2006T=ATCC 31626T=BD 876T=CCUG 30159T=CIP 105598T=DSM 13700T=JCM 8885T=LMG 22050T) and Tatumella terrea (Kageyama et al. 1992) comb. nov. (type strain, SHS 2008T=ATCC 31628T=BD 877T=CCUG 30161T=CIP 105600T=DSM 13701T=JCM 8887T=LMG 22051T) are proposed for P. citrea, P. punctata and P. terrea, respectively.