Skermania

Abstract

Sker.man'i.a. N.L. n. Skermania named after Victor Bruce Darlington Skerman (1921–1993), a celebrated Australian bacterial systematist.

Actinobacteria / Actinobacteria / Corynebacteriales / Nocardiaceae / Skermania

Gram-stain-positive, non-acid-fast, nonmotile, non-sporeforming, facultative aerobic actinomycetes which form an extensive substrate mycelium that does not fragment in undisturbed cultures; secondary branching is rare or absent. Short branched and unbranched aerial hyphae are visible microscopically, but not to the naked eye. During early stages of growth the microscopic appearance of the organism resembles a pine tree. Colonies are orange, opaque, macroscopically dry and friable. Chemoorganotrophic with an oxidative type of metabolism. Catalase-, oxidase-, and urease-positive. Grows between 15° and 31°C.

DNA G+C content (mol%): 67.5 (T_m).

Type species: Skermania piniformis Chun, Blackall, Kang, Hah and Goodfellow 1997, 129^VP.