The purpose of this announcement is to effect the valid publication of the following new names and new combinations under the procedure described in the Bacteriological Code (1990 Revision). Authors and other individuals wishing to have new names and/or combinations included in future lists should send three copies of the pertinent reprint or photocopies thereof to the IJSEM Editorial Office for confirmation that all of the other requirements for valid publication have been met. It is also a requirement of IJSEM and the ICSP that authors of new species, new subspecies and new combinations provide evidence that types are deposited in two recognized culture collections in two different countries (i.e. documents certifying deposition and availability of type strains). It should be noted that the date of valid publication of these new names and combinations is the date of publication of this list, not the date of the original publication of the names and combinations. The authors of the new names and combinations are as given below, and these authors' names will be included in the author index of the present issue and in the volume author index. Inclusion of a name on these lists validates the publication of the name and thereby makes it available in bacteriological nomenclature. The inclusion of a name on this list is not to be construed as taxonomic acceptance of the taxon to which the name is applied. Indeed, some of these names may, in time, be shown to be synonyms, or the organisms may be transferred to another genus, thus necessitating the creation of a new combination.

Deinococcus mumbaiensis DSM 17424(T) was compared with Deinococcus ficus CC-FR2-10(T) to clarify the taxonomic relationship between the two species. 16S rRNA gene sequence comparisons demonstrated that these strains share 99.5 % sequence similarity. Investigation of fatty acid patterns and substrate utilization profiles displayed no striking differences between the type strains of the two species. DNA-DNA hybridizations between the two strains showed 75.4 % (76.6 %) relatedness. Therefore, the reclassification of Deinococcus mumbaiensis as a later heterotypic synonym of Deinococcus ficus is proposed, based upon the estimated phylogenetic position derived from 16S rRNA gene sequence data, fatty acid and biochemical data and DNA-DNA hybridization results.

A pale-pink strain (CC-FR2-10T) from the rhizosphere of the sacred tree Ficus religiosa L. in Taiwan was investigated by using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. The cells were Gram-positive, rod-shaped and non-spore-forming. Phylogenetic analyses using the 16S rRNA gene sequence of the isolate indicated that the organism belongs to the genus Deinococcus, the highest sequence similarities being found with Deinococcus grandis (96.1 %), Deinococcus radiodurans (94.3 %), Deinococcus radiopugnans (93.2 %), Deinococcus indicus (93.0 %), Deinococcus proteolyticus (92.5 %), Deinococcus murrayi (92.4 %) and Deinococcus geothermalis (90.7 %). The DNA-DNA relatedness with respect to D. grandis DSM 3963T was 17.9 %. Chemotaxonomic data revealed that strain CC-FR2-10T contains only menaquinone MK-8 as the respiratory quinone, unknown phosphoglycolipids as the predominant polar lipids and 16 : 1omega7c, 17 : 1omega8c and 17 : 1omega9c iso as the predominant fatty acids. The biochemical and chemotaxonomic properties demonstrate that strain CC-FR2-10T represents a novel species, for which the name Deinococcus ficus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CC-FR2-10T (=CCUG 51391T [corrected] = CIP 108832T).