SERRATIA-FICARIA SP-NOV, A BACTERIAL SPECIES ASSOCIATED WITH SMYRNA FIGS AND THE FIG WASP BLASTOPHAGA-PSENES

Fourteen strains isolated from figs, caprifigs, and fig wasps collected in California and Tunisia, and from a small black ant in France, constitute a new DNA hybridization group that is 25-56% related to Serratia species, and 6-17% related to other species of Enterobacteriaceae. This homogeneous group (90% relatedness within the group) constitutes a new species that is named Serratia ficaria sp. nov. (type strain, ICPB 4050, ATCC 33105). Strains of this species have a characteristic odor, similar to that of S: odorifera and Pseudomonas perolens. No strain of S. ficaria has yet been recovered from clinical specimens. © 1979 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.