Aquaspirillum magnetotacticum sp. nov., a Magnetic Spirillum

We studied the taxonomically relevant characteristics of a microaerophilic, chemoheterotrophic, magnetotactic, freshwater spirillum. Our results indicated that this organism represents a new bacterial species, which is most appropriately placed in the genus Aquaspirillum despite its microaerophilic nature and its lack of detectable catalase and oxidase activities. The name proposed for this new species is Aquaspirillum magnetotacticum, which reflects the remarkable magnetic responsiveness of this organism. The type strain is MS-1 (= ATCC 31632).