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Species Rhizobium meliloti
Name: Rhizobium meliloti Dangeard 1926 (Approved Lists 1980)
Etymology: me.li.lo’ti. N.L. masc. n. Melilotus, generic name of sweet clover; N.L. gen. masc. n. meliloti, of Melilotus
Type strain: ATCC 9930; CCUG 27879; CFBP 5561; DSM 30135; HAMBI 2148; ICMP 12623; IFO 14782; JCM 20682; LMG 6133; NBRC 14782; NCAIM B.01520; NRRL L-45; NZP 4027; USDA 1002
See detailed strain information at
Conduct genome-based taxonomy at
16S rRNA gene:
D14509
Analyse
FASTA
Effective publication: Dangeard PA. Recherches sur les tubercles radicaux des Légumineuses. Botaniste (Paris) 1926; 16:1-275.
IJSEM list:
Skerman VBD, McGowan V, Sneath PHA. Approved lists of bacterial names. Int J Syst Bacteriol 1980; 30:225-420. 
Nomenclatural status: validly published under the ICNP
Taxonomic status: synonym (and not recommended for medical use)
Correct name: Ensifer meliloti (Dangeard 1926) Young 2003
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Synonyms:
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Name Kind Sinorhizobium meliloti (Dangeard 1926) De Lajudie et al. 1994 homotypic synonym, validly published under the ICNP Ensifer meliloti (Dangeard 1926) Young 2003 homotypic synonym, validly published under the ICNP Ensifer kummerowiae (Wei et al. 2002) Young 2003 heterotypic synonym, validly published under the ICNP Sinorhizobium kummerowiae Wei et al. 2002 heterotypic synonym, validly published under the ICNP
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Notes:
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⏰ According to Menendez et al. (2024), this species is an earlier heterotypic synonym of Ensifer kummerowiae (Wei et al. 2002) Young 2003.
Publication:
Menendez E, Flores-Felix JD, Kaur S, diCenzo GC, Young JPW, Peix A, Velazquez E. Reclassification of type strains of Rhizobium indigoferae and Sinorhizobium kummerowiae into the species Rhizobium leguminosarum and Sinorhizobium meliloti, respectively. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2024; 74:6451.
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⏰ According to Menendez et al. (2024), this species is an earlier heterotypic synonym of Sinorhizobium kummerowiae Wei et al. 2002.
Publication:
Menendez E, Flores-Felix JD, Kaur S, diCenzo GC, Young JPW, Peix A, Velazquez E. Reclassification of type strains of Rhizobium indigoferae and Sinorhizobium kummerowiae into the species Rhizobium leguminosarum and Sinorhizobium meliloti, respectively. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2024; 74:6451.
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🏢 Synonymy of this taxon was mentioned in an IJSEM list.
Publication:
Oren A, Göker M. Notification list. Notification that new names and new combinations have appeared in volume 74, part 7 of the IJSEM. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2024; 74:6494.
- ❗ Rhizobium meliloti is the correct name instead if this species is regarded as a separate species (i.e., if its nomenclatural type is not assigned to another species whose name is validly published, legitimate and not rejected and has priority) within a separate genus Rhizobium.
- 😷 The risk group for Canada has been imported on 2024-02-27. The full classification is: risk group = 1, note = "Animal classification RG: 1 - Security sensitive biological agent: No - Terrestrial animal pathogen under Canadian Food Inspection Agency authority: No - Containment level: Containment Level 1". — The risk group for Swiss Confederation has been imported on 2024-02-01. The full classification is: risk group = 1. — The risk group for Germany has been imported on 2023-10-29. The full classification is: risk group = 1. — If in doubt, use the risk group given in the regulations for your country and, if these are not available, use the risk group given in the catalogue of the culture collection from which you have obtained or intend to obtain the strain.
- 🎓 Name mentioned 1185 times in PubMed until 2025-06-04.
- 🙅 This name is on the List of Recommended Names for bacteria of medical importance (LoRN) as a synonym of the name to be applied to this species. The name is on LoRN because of the recorded pathogenicity of other species in the genus.
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🧍 See also Vasse et al. (1990).
Publication:
Vasse J, de Billy F, Camut S, Truchet G. Correlation between ultrastructural differentiation of bacteroids and nitrogen fixation in alfalfa nodules. J Bacteriol 1990; 172:4295-4306.
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🧍 The distinct name Rhizobium loti from the same publication has a similar spelling.
Publication:
Angell RC, Freund GE, Willett P. Automatic spelling correction using a trigram similarity measure. Information Processing and Management 1983; 19:255-261.
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⏰ According to Menendez et al. (2024), this species is an earlier heterotypic synonym of Ensifer kummerowiae (Wei et al. 2002) Young 2003.
Publication:
Menendez E, Flores-Felix JD, Kaur S, diCenzo GC, Young JPW, Peix A, Velazquez E. Reclassification of type strains of Rhizobium indigoferae and Sinorhizobium kummerowiae into the species Rhizobium leguminosarum and Sinorhizobium meliloti, respectively. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2024; 74:6451.
Parent taxon: Rhizobium Frank 1889 (Approved Lists 1980)
Assigned by: Dangeard PA. Recherches sur les tubercles radicaux des Légumineuses. Botaniste (Paris) 1926; 16:1-275.
Linking: To permanently link to this page, use https://lpsn.dsmz.de/species/rhizobium-melilotiLink copied to clipboard
Record number: 780370
This LPSN page was printed on 2025-11-15 00:05:39