Rhodopseudomonas rutila Is a Later Subjective Synonym of Rhodopseudomonas palustris

Phenotypic, chemotaxonomic, and DNA-DNA hybridization studies of strains of Rhodopseudomonas rutila Akiba et al. 1983 and Rhodopseudomonas palustris (Molisch 1907) van Niel 1944 demonstrated synonymy between the two species. We propose that they be classified into a single species, retaining the name R. palustris.