Sphingomonas oligophenolica sp. nov., a halo- and organo-sensitive oligotrophic bacterium from paddy soil that degrades phenolic acids at low concentrations.

The taxonomic position of a halo- and organo-sensitive, oligotrophic soil bacterium, strain S213(T), was investigated. Cells were Gram-negative, non-motile, strictly aerobic, yellow-pigmented rods of short to medium length on diluted nutrient broth. When 0.1-0.4 % (w/v) NaCl was added to diluted media composed of peptone and meat extract, growth was inhibited with increasing NaCl concentration and the cells became long aberrant forms. When 6 mM CaCl(2) was added, the cells grew quite normally and aberrant cells were no longer found at 0.1-0.5 % (w/v) NaCl. Chemotaxonomically, strain S213(T) contains chemical markers that indicate its assignment to the Sphingomonadaceae: the presence of ubiquinone Q-10 as the predominant respiratory quinone, C(18 : 1) and C(16 : 0) as major fatty acids, C(14 : 0) 2-OH as the major 2-hydroxy fatty acid and sphingoglycolipids. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that strain S213(T) belongs to the genus Sphingomonas, exhibiting high sequence similarity to the 16S rRNA gene sequences of Sphingomonas mali IFO 15500(T) (98.3 %), Sphingomonas pruni IFO 15498(T) (98.0 %), Sphingomonas asaccharolytica IFO 15499(T) (97.9 %) and Sphingomonas echinoides DSM 1805(T) (97.8 %). The results of DNA-DNA hybridization experiments and its phenotypic characteristics clearly distinguished the strain from its nearest neighbours and demonstrate that strain S213(T) represents a novel Sphingomonas species, for which the name Sphingomonas oligophenolica sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is S213(T) (=JCM 12082(T)=CIP 107926(T)).

Developmental Stages of the Society Finch, Lonchura striata var. dornestica.: (society finch/developmental stages/morphogenesis/laboratory animal).

The society finch, a little passerin, was purposed to be utilized in embryological studies. Under control of the breeding cycle in 20 pairs, 4 to 6 eggs were used to be laid daily for several repeating week in a year. Average incubation time was 17 days in contrast to 21 in the domestic fowl. The eggs weighed 1.1 g in average and expected smallness of the embryo was regarded as favorable for morphological studies including the scanning electron microscopy. We present the first report of the complete development of the society finch. A number of embryological characteristics are described with special reference to the peculiarity of the altricial finch as compared with the precocial domestic fowl.