Alcaligenes
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| Alcaligenes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Alcaligenes faecalis, flagella stain | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Bacteria |
| Kingdom: | Pseudomonadati |
| Phylum: | Pseudomonadota |
| Class: | Betaproteobacteria |
| Order: | Burkholderiales |
| Family: | Alcaligenaceae |
| Genus: | Alcaligenes Castellani & Chalmers 1919 |
| Species | |
Alcaligenes is a genus of Gram-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped bacteria in the order of Burkholderiales, family Alcaligenaceae.[1]
The type species, A. faecalis, was first isolated from stale beer by Johannes Petruschky in 1896.[2] However, formal description was only finished in 1919 by Castellani and Chalmers.[3] The name Alcaligenes has its origin in Arabic and Greek and means "alkali-producing".[4][clarification needed]
Several species were previously placed in Alcaligenes, but have since been moved to more appropriate genera. A. aestus, A. aquamarinus, A. cupidus, A. pacificus and A. venustus were first reclassified to the genus Deleya and later merged into Halomonas in the class of Gammaproteobacteria. Other species were reassigned within the order of Burkholderiales. A. denitrificans, A. piechaudii, A. ruhlandii and A. xylosoxidans are currently placed in Achromobacter,[5] A. latus in Azohydromonas,[6] A. eutrophus in Wautersia,[7] and A. paradoxus in Variovorax.[8]
Morphology and biochemistry
Species of Alcaligenes are rods, coccal rods, or cocci, sized at about 0.5-1.0 x 0.5-2.6 μm. The slender rods are slightly curved, capsule forming, not spore-forming.[9] They are usually motile with amphitrichous flagella and rarely nonmotile. They tend to be colorless.
Alcaligenes species are obligately aerobic, but some can undergo anaerobic respiration if nitrate is present. They are non-fermenting.[10]
Alcaligenes species have been used for the industrial production of nonstandard amino acids.[11]
