Sphingopyxis

Abstract Sphin.go.py'xis. N.L. neut. n. sphingosinum (from Gr. gen. n. sphingos , of sphinx, and suff. ‐ ine ) sphingosine; N.L. pref. sphingo ‐, pertaining to sphingosine; L. fem. n. pyxis ‐ idis , box, case, container; N.L. fem. n. Sphingopyxis , intended to mean box of sphingolipid‐containing life. Proteobacteria / Alphaproteobacteria / Sphingomonadales / Sphingomonadaceae / Sphingopyxis The cells are Gram‐stain‐negative, aerobic, rod shaped, nonsporulating, motile or nonmotile, and may be flagellated or nonflagellated. Excepting a few, most of them are oxidase‐, catalase‐, and DNase‐positive. Most of them are culturable and can easily grow on culture media such as Luria–Bertani, nutrient agar, tryptic soy agar, R2A, and veal infusion agar. Species of the genus Sphingopyxis can utilize a wide variety of carbon and nitrogen sources. The major polar lipids observed in Sphingopyxis spp. are phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylmonomethylethanolamine, and sphingoglycolipids. The major fatty acids include C 18:1 ω7 c , C 16:0 , C 17:1 ω 6 c , and C 14: 0 2‐OH. The major respiratory quinone observed is ubiquinone Q‐10. In most of the species, the major polyamine observed is spermidine with minor amount of spermine. Most of the members grow at moderate temperatures, while some prefer lower temperature for their growth. Growth can be observed in narrow pH range in some (close to pH 7) and wide range in remaining ones. GC content varies from 62.3 to 69.2% across the characterized species of Sphingopyxis . Members of this genus can grow in the presence or absence of NaCl which is also variable among members. DNA G + C content (mol%) : 62.40–66.44. Type species : Sphingopyxis macrogoltabida (Takeuchi et al., 2001).