New Bacterial Group Named After ARS
Scientist By Jan
Suszkiw May 25, 2004
Hespellia is the name of a new genus of bacteria
discovered by Agricultural Research
Service and cooperating scientists and posthumously named in honor of ARS
microbiologist Robert B. Hespell. A genus is a specific taxonomic group of
closely related species.
Scientists from the ARS National Center for Agricultural
Utilization Research (NCAUR) in Peoria,
Ill., and the University of Reading in the
United Kingdom concluded the genus was new after comparing the bacteria's
ribosomal gene, 16S rDNA, to other species and analyzing the new microbes'
biochemical features. The team discovered the Hespellia bacteria while
cataloging microbial species that inhabit swine manure and produce its
offending odor.
Collecting such information can yield important clues for
figuring out new ways of diminishing the odors, according to ARS microbiologist
Terence R. Whitehead, a member of NCAUR's
Fermentation Biotechnology Research
Unit. New pig feed formulations with improved digestibility and novel
waste-handling systems are two possibilities. Besides sulfides that contribute
to swine manure's stink, the waste also emits gases like ammonia and methane
that can be environmentally harmful, notes Whitehead.
He credits Hespell, who worked at NCAUR until his death in
August 1998, with pioneering studies on the scientific description of anaerobic
bacteria and their use in improving digestion in the rumen of cows and sheep.
Anaerobes are organisms that thrive in oxygen-free environments--including
those outside of animal hosts, such as manure storage pits and lagoons where
manure is treated for use as fertilizer.
In the January issue of the International Journal of Systematic and
Evolutionary Microbiology, Whitehead and co-authors Michael Cotta of
NCAUR and Mathew Collins and Paul Lawson of the University of Reading describe
two new species of Hespellia bacteria found growing in a pig manure pit
near Peoria. Genetic analysis revealed that the Gram-positive, rod-shaped
bacteria--H. stercorisuis and H. porcinia--are 97 percent
identical to one another, but different enough from other anaerobes to warrant
classification as members of a new genus.
ARS is the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's chief scientific research agency. |