Cupriavidus necator

Cupriavidus necator
Scientific classification
Domain:	Bacteria
Phylum:	Proteobacteria
Class:	Betaproteobacteria
Order:	Burkholderiales
Family:	Ralstoniaceae
Genus:	Cupriavidus
Species:	C. necator
Binomial name
Cupriavidus necator (Davis 1969) Yabuuchi et al. 1996
Synonyms
Ralstonia eutropha

Ralstonia eutropha

Cupriavidus necator is a Gram-negative soil bacterium of the Betaproteobacteria class.

Cupriavidus necator has gone through a series of name changes. In the first half of the 20th century, many micro-organisms were isolated for their ability to use hydrogen. Hydrogen-metabolizing chemolithotrophic organisms were clustered into the group Hydrogenomonas.C. necator was originally named Hydrogenomonas eutrophus because it fell under the Hydrogenomonas classification and was “well nourished and robust”. Some of the original H. eutrophus cultures isolated were by Bovell and Wilde. After characterizing cell morphology, metabolism and GC content, the Hydrogenomonas nomenclature was disbanded because it comprised many species of microorganisms.H. eutrophus was then renamed Alcaligenes eutropha because it was a micro-organism with degenerated peritrichous flagellation. Investigating phenotype, lipid composition, fatty acid composition and 16S rRNA analysis, A. eutropha was found to belong to the genus Ralstonia and named Ralstonia eutropha. Upon further study of the Ralstonia genus, Ralstonia was found to comprise two phenotypically distinct clusters. The new genus Wautersia was created from one of these clusters which included R. eutropha. In turn R. eutropha was renamed Wautersia eutropha. Looking at DNA-DNA hybridization and phenotype comparison with Cupriavidus necator, W. eutropha was found to be the same species as previously described C. necator. Because C. necator was named in 1987 far before the name change to R. eutropha and W. eutropha, the name C. necator was assigned to R. eutropha according to Rule 23a of the International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria.

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