Five hundred four fecal specimens, collected between 2004 and 2006 from young children with acute diarrhea, were screened for rotavirus by ELISA with VP6-specific antibody. Of these samples, 394 (78.2%) were confirmed as group A rotavirus and they underwent G-and P typing using a combination of ELISA, RT-PCR, and sequence analysis methods. The dominant circulating G serotype was G1 (35.6%) followed by G3 (26.4%), G4 (14.7%), and G2 (11.9%). There was a low prevalence of G9 (1.0%) and of unusual G type rotavirus, in particular, G12 (0.5%) and G8 (0.3%). Of the P genotype rotavirus in circulation, P[8] (53.0%) was most common followed by P and G8P[8] were also found. Owing to the recent emergence of G8 and G12 rotavirus, the findings from this study are important since they provide new information concerning the local and global spread of rotavirus genotypes.

The taxonomic position of a Gram-positive coccus, designated strain CAU 28 T , isolated from activated sludge foam was determined by using a polyphasic approach. Based on its cellular morphology and the results of biochemical tests, strain CAU 28 T was identified tentatively as a member of the genus Lactococcus. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that levels of similarity between strain CAU 28 T and the type strains of recognized Lactococcus species ranged from 90.4 to 97.2 %. DNA-DNA hybridization studies showed that strain CAU 28 T displayed less than 26.1 % relatedness to the type strains of recognized Lactococcus species. The rep-PCR fingerprints revealed that strain CAU 28 T was well separated from reference Lactococcus species. The combined genotypic and phenotypic data indicate that strain CAU 28 T represents a novel species of the genus Lactococcus, for which the name Lactococcus chungangensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CAU 28 T (5KCTC 13185 T 5CCUG 55099 T ).Lactococcus Schleifer et al. 1986 was first established as a separate genus distinct from the genus Streptococcus by Schleifer et al. (1985). At the time of writing, Lactococcus comprises five recognized species (Euzéby, 1997; Schleifer et al. 1986. Members of the genus Lactococcus have been identified as lactic acid bacteria that contribute significantly to the properties of fermented dairy products while others produce antimicrobial compounds. Members of the genus have been isolated largely from food-related sources and are generally regarded as safe (GRAS) organisms (Salminen et al., 1998). However, rare cases of invasive disease in humans, sometimes severe, have been reported in association with L. garvieae (Vinh et al., 2006;Wang et al., 2007; Yiu et al., 2007) and L. lactis (Mannion & Rothburn, 1990) infections. The case study by Wang et al. (2007) raised awareness of a potential risk factor for gastrointestinal disease from L. garvieae linked to the consumption of raw seafood (squid) in the summer months, although their 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis may not have been the best method of establishing an epidemiological link. The exact source of infection in squid and the farm of its origin could not be identified, and a much larger study is needed to confirm risk factors for potential gastrointestinal infection with L. garvieae. Several reports show that L. garvieae is an important pathogen of fish, squid and prawns, causing economic losses both in marine and in freshwater aquaculture (Carson et al., 1993;Chen et al., 2001Chen et al., , 2002Pereira et al., 2004; Vendrell et al., 2006). In addition, L. garvieae has been isolated from cases of bovine mastitis (Collins et al., 1983;Teixeira et al., 1996). Until now, however, there have been no reports ofThe GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession number for the 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain CAU 28 T is EF694028. for 3 days at 37 u C. Cellular fatty acid methyl esters were extracted by acid methanolysis (Minnikin et al., 1980) and analysed by using a Hewlett Packard ser...

The taxonomic position of a Gram-positive, non-spore-forming strain, designated CAU 59 T , from activated sludge was investigated. Colony morphology, biochemical tests and chemotaxonomic investigations revealed that strain CAU 59 T possessed the characteristics of the genus The family Microbacteriaceae embraces a large group of actinomycetes with cell-wall peptidoglycan of the B type (Schleifer & Kandler, 1972) and unsaturated major menaquinones (Collins & Jones, 1981). Initially, the family Microbacteriaceae was proposed to accommodate the genera Agromyces, Aureobacterium, Clavibacter, Curtobacterium and Microbacterium (Park et al., 1993). At the time of writing, Microbacteriaceae comprises 31 recognized genera, which are distinguishable at the phenotypic level by a number of chemotaxonomic characteristics, including peptidoglycan diamino acids and respiratory menaquinone composition (Collins & Bradbury, 1992;Evtushenko & Takeuchi, 2003;Sheridan et al., 2003). The genus Pseudoclavibacter was created to accommodate 'Brevibacterium helvolum' (Zimmermann, 1890; Lochhead, 1955;Manaia et al., 2004), an organism isolated from butter; the name is an earlier homotypic synonym of 'Zimmermannella helvola' During the course of routine screening of bacteria for industrial purposes, a Pseudoclavibacter-like strain (designated CAU 59 T ) was isolated from activated sludge at the wastewater treatment plant in Cheonan, Republic of Korea. The procedure for isolation of strain CAU 59 T followed that of Gordon & Mihm (1962) . An activated sludge sample was diluted with sterilized distilled water and appropriate dilutions were spread on GYEA medium and incubated aerobically for 3 days at 30 u C.The Gram-staining reaction and production of spores were determined by microscopic examination, following described procedures (Doetsch, 1981;Smibert & Krieg, 1981). Catalase activity was determined by bubble production in a 3 % (v/v) hydrogen peroxide solution. Oxidase activity was tested by means of the oxidation of 1 % tetramethyl p-phenylenediamine (Merck). Hydrolysis of casein, starch and urea was determined on GYEA according to described methods (Cowan & Steel, 1965; Lányí, 1987;Smibert & Krieg, 1994). Other enzymic activities were tested using the API ZYM and API 20EAbbreviations: GYEA, glucose-yeast extract agar; GYEB, glucose-yeast extract broth.The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession number for the 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain CAU 59T is FJ514934.

Bacillus anthracis, the aetiological agent of anthrax, has been taxonomically classified with the Bacillus cereus group, which comprises B. cereus, Bacillus thuringiensis, Bacillus mycoides, Bacillus pseudomycoides and Bacillus weihenstephanensis. Although the pathogenesis and ecological manifestations may be different, B. anthracis shares a high degree of DNA sequence similarity with its group member species. As a result, the discrimination of B. anthracis from its close relatives in the B. cereus group is still quite difficult. Suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) was performed to search for genomic differences between a B. anthracis Korean isolate CR and the most closely related B. cereus type strain KCTC 3624T. Two-hundred and five B. anthracis CR clones obtained by SSH underwent Southern hybridization, and comparative sequences were analysed using the blast program from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Subsequently, primer sets based on the glycosyltransferase group 1 family protein gene specific to B. anthracis were designed from the sequences of subtracted clones, and their specificities were evaluated using eight B. anthracis, 33 B. cereus, 10 B. thuringiensis, six B. mycoides, one B. pseudomycoides, one B. weihenstephanensis and 19 strains from 11 other representative Bacillus species. PCR primers specific for the glycosyltransferase group 1 family protein gene did not amplify the desired products from any of the Bacillus strains under examination, except B. anthracis alone. These findings may be useful in the future development of efficient diagnostic tools for the rapid identification of B. anthracis from other members of the B. cereus group.

The taxonomic position of a Gram-positive, non-motile, non-spore-forming coryneform, isolated from activated sludge and designated strain CAU 212 T , was investigated using a polyphasic approach. Cellular morphology, biochemical tests and chemotaxonomic investigations revealed that strain CAU 212 T had the characteristics of the genus Corynebacterium. Comparative 16SrRNA gene sequence analysis showed that the organism formed a hitherto-unknown subline within the genus Corynebacterium. Sequence divergence values of more than 4.3 % from recognized Corynebacterium species, together with phenotypic differences, showed that the bacterium represents a previously unrecognized member of the genus Corynebacterium, for which the name Corynebacterium doosanense sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CAU 212The genus Corynebacterium was established by Lehmann & Neumann (1896) and represents one of the largest groups within the Actinobacteria. At the time of writing, Corynebacterium comprised 95 recognized taxa. In recent years, many of the recognized species within this genus originated from clinical specimens of humans (Hall et al., 2003;Renaud et al., 2007;Yassin, 2007;Yassin & Siering, 2008), animals (Goyache et al., 2003a, b; Fernández-Garayzábal et al., 2003Collins et al., 2004;Vela et al., 2006) and environments (Yassin et al., 2003; Chen et al., 2004;Feurer et al., 2004). Until now, however, there have been relatively few reports of corynebacteria from activated sludge. During the course of routine screening of bacteria for industrial purposes, a Corynebacterium-like strain, designated CAU 212 T , was isolated from activated sludge from the wastewater treatment plant in Yeongdeuk-gun, Republic of Korea.The isolation procedure for strain CAU 212 T followed that of Gordon & Mihm (1962) by using glucose-yeast extract agar (GYEA; comprising per litre: 10 g yeast extract, 10 g glucose and 15 g agar) supplemented with 50 mg cycloheximide l 21 and 20 mg nalidixic acid l 21. An activated sludge sample was diluted with sterilized distilled water and appropriate dilutions were spread onto the GYEA medium and incubated aerobically for 3 days at 30 u C. An opaque, yellow, low-convex bacterial colony with a diameter of 1-2 mm was subcultured on sheep blood agar plates (Asan Pharm Co.). The pure culture of CAU 212 T was preserved in 25 % (v/v) glycerol at 270 u C. The cell morphology of colonies was observed at different incubation times, every 24 h for 3 days, with a microscope following Gram staining. Strain CAU 212T was characterized biochemically using the API Coryne, API 20 Strep and API ZYM kits (bioMérieux) according to the manufacturer's instructions. The ChristieAtkins-Munch-Petersen (CAMP) test with Staphylococcus aureus was performed as described by von Graevenitz & Funke (1996). Cell-wall murein was prepared by mechanical disruption of cells and complete acid hydrolysates were analysed as described by Schleifer & Kandler (1972). Cellular fatty acid methyl esters were extracted by acid methanolysis (Minnikin et al.,...