Cupriavidus taiwanensis LMG 19424

Cupriavidus taiwanensis LMG19424 (originally called Ralstonia taiwanensis or Wautersia taiwanensis), a betaproteobacteria of the rhizobia group, was isolated from a nodule from the legume species Mimosa pudica in Taiwan. The genome of strain LMG19424 is comprised of three replicons, 2 chromosomes of 3.5 Mb, and 2.4 Mb, and a symbiotic plasmid of 0.5 Mb which carries the genes that are essential for nodulation and nitrogen fixation (not sequenced in this project). C.taiwanensis is motile by means of peritrichous flagella and grows aerobically at 28 to 37 degrees C. It is catalase- and oxidase-positive, reduces nitrate, hydrolyzes aesculin, and is susceptible to colistin. It has only recently been discovered that in addition to alphaproteobacteria some betaproteobacteria are also able to nodulate legumes and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Thus it is only distantly related to most known nodulating/nitrogen fixing bacteria and will be interesting to study for its differences from them (adapted from PubMed 11594603 and http://www.genoscope.cns.fr/spip/Ralstonia-taiwanensis-an-atypical.html). (EBI Integr8)