bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Traditional Political Realism and the Writing of History
Authors: Spegele Roger D.
Published: March 2005

Part Two of the book begins with a discussion of realist and English School of International Relations approaches to writing international history, in which the author argues that the appreciation of history that underpinned early English School thinking was reminiscent of that which also framed ‘traditional classical’ realist approaches to the subject. The author refutes D. C. Copeland's (2003) structuralist critique of the English School and argues that the School's early thinkers may provide a teleological account of agent‐led historical change that could enable traditional realists to regain ground lost to the structuralists in the past few decades. Focusing on the conceptions of history of two distinguished members of the English School, E. H. Carr and Herbert Butterfield (although their views are in some respects diametrically opposed), he argues that both implicitly accepted different renditions of a teleological view of history. He advances a case for treating human actions as directed to the agent's – both individual and collective – goals and purposes, an idea that scientific empiricism would be obliged to reject but which may unite the English School and traditional political realism. In addition, he suggests that the mix of English School and political realism provided by Carr and Butterfield offers an understanding of history that can challenge dominant neorealist and neoliberal accounts in two principal ways: first, in that it offers an account of history that focuses on the intentional actions of actors, and second, because it provides a convincing method for identifying the causes of historical change by focusing on the reasons for change.
The Question of Culture
Authors: O'Hagan Jacinta
Published: March 2005

Considers the relationship between culture and international society, a question that subtly permeates the work of the English School of International Relations. Begins by examining ideas among the first wave of English School authors about the role of culture in the formation of international society. Next, it considers assumptions about the relationship between culture and international society to be found among contemporary English School authors. The key issues addressed here include the role that culture plays in establishing order and stability in international society, the role that key institutions of international society play in managing cultural diversity (cultural pluralism), and the relationship between culture and perceptions of equity and justice within international society. Then seeks to draw together discussion of these three cultural issue areas to reflect on their implications for the functioning and cohesion of contemporary international society.
Counting Jacob's Twelve Sons
Authors: Douglas Mary
Published: March 2005

Develops the author's argument that the motivation of the priestly editors of the Pentateuch, and in particular of Numbers and Leviticus, was strictly professional and priestly. The author asks why, in the Book of Numbers, does the editor keep listing the names of the twelve tribes of Israel (descendants of the twelve sons of Jacob), and puts forward the thesis that they were using the stories of the patriarchs as an allegory of their own concerns about the unity of the cult of the Hebrew God: their choice to write about fraternal rivalry was not arbitrary. The first section of the chapter looks specifically at the strife between the brothers Joseph and Judah, the founding patriarchs of Samaria and Judah, and the precarious relations between those countries. The following sections look at other aspects of the Pentateuch in the same way – as allegory, and as a way of addressing contemporary problems affecting the editors themselves: editors who believed that all the sons of Joseph were co‐heirs of the Covenant, and that authority rested with the Aaronite priesthood. In this context, the discussion covers the different manifestations of God as angry and forgiving in Numbers and Leviticus, the issue of unity and defection between the brother tribes and brother priests of Israel, and the story of Jacob himself, his favourite son Joseph, and Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.
Jacob Weeping for Joseph
Authors: Douglas Mary
Published: March 2005

Continues the argument advanced in the first chapter on the anxiety of the Pentateuch's priestly editors about the solidarity between Judah and the descendants of Joseph's sons Ephraim and Manasseh. It addresses the concept of the Day of Atonement, which in the post‐exilic period was associated with Joseph, and is found in the Book of Jubilees, where the ceremony is described as a sin‐offering of a goat. The different sections of the chapter look at the conflicting meanings attached to the ceremony of the scapegoat (or goats) offering – fraternal reconciliation versus unbrotherly rejection. They discuss: the meaning of the ‘scapegoat’; Greek and Hebrew manifestations of the ceremony; scapegoat rituals around the world, the levitical purification ceremony – including the interpretation of the word Azazal (here viewed as the goat that is chosen to be presented to God alive and is then sent away, in contrast to that chosen as the sacrificial sin‐offering); Aaron's sacrifices of atonement; the need for transfer of the sins of Israel to an animal; the bearing of sin by an animal, the punishment of the sin‐bearing animal by exile; the parallels of the goat rites with the rites of two birds in Leviticus and with the stories of two brothers with uneven destinies (Isaac and Ishmael, and Jacob and Esau) in Genesis; and parallels between the assigning of the scapegoat and the commissioning of the Levites or the commissioning of Joshua by Moses in Numbers. The author argues that not much is left of the idea levitical scapegoating ceremony, and suggests that the priestly editors covered up their deep interest in politics and morals by writing in parables but dramatizing their teaching in vivid rituals.
Balaam Delivers God's Blessings on All Israel
Authors: Douglas Mary
Published: March 2005

Balaam's story in Numbers is here viewed as a burlesque, in fact a political satire, about the foreign prophet (or magician), Balaam, whom God chooses as his mouthpiece. The author's thesis is that the priestly editors kept the story in the Book of Numbers because it served their purpose in being aimed against policies of which they disapproved in post‐exilic Judah, and supported their interests in conveying the essential priestly message to Judah and Samaria: that they are destined to be one great people, that Israel should be united. Its other objective may have been to poke fun at the King of Persia (King Balak in the Balaam story) – and his henchman, the Governor of Samaria (Balaam himself); the concluding part of the chapter portrays the patient she‐ass of the Balaam story as the people of Israel themselves. The story is first outlined and then analysed in detail. Various interpretations are offered, but the major issue addressed is the story of Balaam as ‘the story within the story’ (or synecdoche) in the context of the literary genre of the Book of Numbers; the words of Balaam are studied very carefully to support this idea.
5 Problems in Reading the Priestly Books
Authors: Douglas Mary
Published: March 2005

The introduction to this chapter highlights the high culture of the priestly editors of Leviticus and Numbers and the fact that they were writing for each other in a once fashionable style that used structural devices such as verbal and thematic parallelism and ambiguity, but was fast becoming esoteric, obscure, and archaic; in other words, there was a vast gulf between the editor‐priests and their congregations. The author's interpretation of Leviticus and Numbers has been attacked as improbable on the grounds that if it was correct it would have been anticipated before: structural clues would have been noticed. The argument advanced here is that the two books have not before been searched for clues to their structure – such a search was not the approach of the early rabbis, nor was it possible in the period after the priestly editors had gone by the time of the destruction of the Second Temple, for the Levites who had succeeded to their role were less learned. The various sections of the chapter first look at the characteristics of the Levite interpretation of the Pentateuch, Bishop Lowth's eighteenth‐century discovery of biblical parallelism, parallelism as a typical convention of Semitic literature, and Mishnaic parallelism. The remaining sections present a detailed analysis of the structure of the Book of Leviticus: the prominent role of impurity in relation to the protection of the tabernacle from contamination but the concomitant inclusion of the poor and the stranger; the altar as focus of religion in the form, represented in Leviticus by the use of the desert tabernacle as an architectural model of the Book itself; and features of the style of Leviticus – the two violent events in Chs 10 and 24 (which divide the Book into three parts), the designation of the Book as one of three parts with three centres (Chs 8–10, 18–20 and 25–27), and its mid‐turn, which is centred at Ch. 19.
The Body/House Cosmogram
Authors: Douglas Mary
Published: March 2005

Continues with the analysis of the structure of the Book of Leviticus that was started in the Ch. 5. Its literary scheme and the annual ritual cycle of the priests in the tabernacle both celebrate the same, all‐embracing model of the universe, which holds good for Mount Sinai, the Covenant and the tabernacle: this is the microcosm – a microcosm whose centre can be both at the summit and at the heart (or the head). The first part of the chapter introduces the characteristics of a microcosm and of its analogies, pointing out that it reduces ambiguities, although at the same time problems may be caused by the conflation of analogies, such as that between body and house in the gospels. Various examples of microcosms are outlined – the Chinese emperor, the flow model of the Lele people in the Congo, the Berber house (or world reversed) of Pierre Bordeau, Paul's microcosm in the New Testament, and the relations between analogy and practical reason are discussed. The last part of the chapter looks specifically at Leviticus’ body/temple analogy as a functioning microcosm (in which the analogies rest on a basis of proportionality – in this case, a tripartite design embodying the sacrificial animal, the shape of the tabernacle, and the proportions of the original epiphanic Mount Sinai), at the Book of Leviticus as a body, and at the view of the virtual tabernacle of the exile (which period was when Leviticus was composed and edited) and the changes in interpretation that occurred on return from exile.
Uncleanness and Taboo Draw the Lines of the World
Authors: Douglas Mary
Published: March 2005

Taboos are effective for guarding thought, and this chapter is about the equivalent role of performance in protecting what is known: it suggests that taboos should be seen as performative acts that stop the confusion of categories of purity/impurity. The author advances her thinking on the dietary rules of Leviticus from her earlier intellectualist approach that considered the rules as isolated categories of infringement, to a consideration that they are a codification of the law of impurity, in which food impurity is related to the defilement of the temple or body: Leviticus, then, is not just a ritual handbook, but much more. The first part of the chapter discusses approaches to taboos in relation to impurity, the politics of purity, forensic problems – as illustrated by the development of the extensive classificatory taboo systems for hunting by the Huaulu of the Celebes Islands, and taboos as building blocks for world‐making. The last part of the chapter turns to Leviticus itself, looking at silence about forensic impurity in Leviticus 1–17, at Jacob Milgrom's view of impurity in Leviticus as a defilement of the tabernacle and the divine power to purify it in a grand ceremony every year on the Day of Atonement, at clean and unclean animals, at the defiling of bodies listed in Leviticus 12–15, and the tabernacle as a microcosm in the context of the final editing of the priestly books during the Babylonian exile (when the temple had been profaned and destroyed, and there was no place to sacrifice or purify). Within the frame of reference for everything is the relation of the people of Israel to their God, and the dietary laws are here viewed as analogies: what cannot be offered to God at the altar may not be consumed as food, and there is no way to understand the law of impurity without considering the whole priestly project.
8 One God, No Ancestors, in a World Renewed
Authors: Douglas Mary
Published: March 2005

Focuses on the absence of ancestor cults in the Bible, and notes that the ground already covered in the book indicates that the priestly editors of the Pentateuch in the sixth and fifth centuries bce, and their interpretation of monotheism, make it unlikely that there would have been room for such an idea. Considers the limited role of the dead in biblical Israel in the context of the major advance that was monotheism, and asks whether Leviticus represents a Utopian religion or a real one that was actually practiced in the past, emphasizing the intellectual consistency of the Pentateuch in its uncompromising monotheism. The question is asked as to whether Israel ever had an ancestral cult, and the biblical evidence against such a cult is reviewed. The possible benefits of an ancestor cult in taking the blame are discussed, along with some alternative views to this (notably, the horror of death), and the possibility of the forcible suppression of ancestor cults as part of a centralizing government programme (here certain parallels are drawn with other cultures, and the cult of purgatory is discussed). Other ways in which cults of the dead can fade are discussed in the last part of the chapter; these include the secularizing effect of modernization, intergenerational tension, the character of the resource base in relation to the fate of ancestor cults (as illustrated by religious dynamism in the Calabari Delta of Nigeria), religious change instigated by changing regimes in which either the old or the young may become ascendant, and the position of eighth‐century Israel as having everything that would favour a revolt by the young – thus setting a trail for the priestly editors that had been laid centuries before, and embodied the central doctrine of monotheism.
Limits on Theory I: Costs to Agents
Authors: Wilson Catherine
Published: March 2005

Bernard Williams and Thomas Nagel have argued forcefully that the classical moral theories, utilitarianism and Kantianism, are insufficiently responsive to certain features of the first‐person standpoint. Defends their view that prescriptive statements that routinely impose too heavy costs on agents are not confirmable. The difficulty of fulfilling a request reduces an agent's obligation to fulfil it, and when its exigency is compounded by circumstances such as the agent's involuntary subjection, or his being asked to bear certain burdens unexpectedly or by himself, the obligation is further reduced. The reality constraint with regard to facts about agency and moral motivation thus sets limits on the systems of social rules that are eligible for endorsement.
The Anonymity Requirement and Counterweight Principles
Authors: Wilson Catherine
Published: March 2005

Establishes a metaethical constraint on moral theorizing, the Anonymity Requirement, whose relation to John Rawls’ ‘veil of ignorance’ and to the utilitarian presumption that everyone's pains and pleasures must be impartially considered are discussed. One cannot posit privileges and exemptions ‘for me’ or ‘for us’ within a genuine moral theory as opposed to an ideology. Further, certain ‘counterweight principles’ intrinsic to our moral psychology are shown to offset the force of costs to agents in establishing demand levels. While contractualist theories do provide for universal representation of needs and wants, they confound the question of confirmation by idealized theorists with the question of fair distribution to non‐ideal agents.
CONTEXTUALISM AND THE PUZZLE
Authors: Hawthorne John
Published: March 2005

This chapter examines the advantages and disadvantages of contextualism, and its application to the puzzle. Contextualism offers a compelling solution to puzzle. The contextualist allows that ordinary knowledge ascriptions often come out true, and allows the ordinary claims to the effect that lottery propositions are not known can also come true. He explains away the apparent threat to closure provided by the original puzzles. The resolution of conflicting intuitions is prima facie and extremely compelling.
A Tale of Two Theories
Authors: Borg Emma
Published: March 2005

An introduction to formal semantic theories (focusing on truth-conditional semantics) and dual pragmatic accounts (focusing on Sperber and Wilson’s relevance theory and Recanati’s contextualism). The chapter gives an initial examination of the distinct challenges posed by advocates of dual pragmatic accounts and the precise nature of the debate between the two approaches. The chapter also looks at the notion of logical form deployed by both kinds of semantic theory.
Supposition and Belief Change 1
Authors: Levi Isaac
Published: March 2005

It is argued, with Peirce and against Descartes, that current beliefs do not require justification; justification is only required when change in belief is on offer. Parmenidean epistemology is discussed in defence of the view that commitment to full belief cannot be escaped by a move to judgements of probability or some other index of uncertainty, and that full belief is corrigible. Types of change in states of full belief are distinguished, and it is maintained that without an account of justified expansions and, particularly, contractions there can be no justifiable changes in belief that take into account the desideratum of avoiding error at the next step (the AGM approach developed by Alchourrón, Gärdenfors and Makinson). The pragmatic theory to be defended, in which the justification of a change of belief attempts to show that the proposed change best promotes the goal of the enquiry in question, is set out. It is explained that the focus of the book will be on rationalizing choices between competing contraction strategies once the decision to contract – to relinquish old beliefs – has been made.
Cognitive Decisions 2
Authors: Levi Isaac
Published: March 2005

Changes of doxastic commitment by contraction are to be understood as decision-theoretic: the problem of how to contract is a decision problem. Parallel issues relating to inductive expansion and abduction are set out. A number of potential contractions are distinguished. The “commensuration requirement” is defined as requiring that every change in state of full belief should entail a justification of a contraction or an expansion, and is defended. It is suggested that there are two contexts in which inquirers do legitimately contract: when they inadvertently expand into inconsistency; and when doing so enables them to give a serious hearing to an important conjecture without begging the question in favour of or against it. Options in cognitive decision-making are discussed, and it is argued that some expansion is deliberate.
Deliberate Expansion 3
Authors: Levi Isaac
Published: March 2005

The justification of deliberate expansion is the topic of this chapter, and it is argued that any possible expansion should be assessed with respect to two desiderata: the enquirer should seek to avoid error by adding new information that is false; and the enquirer should seek to acquire new, valuable information. The ways in which the legitimacy of an inductive expansion is heavily dependant on contextual parameters are set out, and five such parameters are identified. The notions of “degrees of surprise” and “degrees of belief” (plausibility) are defined and discussed.
Informational Value in Contraction 4
Authors: Levi Isaac
Published: March 2005

The informational value involved in contraction is the subject of this chapter. Probability-based notions of informational value are introduced. It is argued that rational agents need not evaluate consequences of options and probabilities numerically when evaluating decision problems. The notions of weak and strong monotonicity are discussed, and it is argued that when two or more expansion or contraction options are tied for optimality with respect to the goals of the decision-maker, he should adopt the weakest of them, if it exists. A version of a method for evaluating loss of informational value called loss of damped informational value is defended.
3 ‘The Ethical’ in Fear and Trembling
Authors: Evans C. Stephen
Published: March 2005

Fear and Trembling is not the place to look for an account of Kierkegaard’s ethical views, because it is not a book about ethics but faith, written by someone who neither has faith nor an understanding of it. Kierkegaard does not use Fear and Trembling to represent how the ethical life appears from within the life of faith, as some have believed. Instead, Kierkegaard uses the work to call into question the identification of faith with ethics, especially when the ‘ethical’ is understood in a Hegelian way.
5 Divine Commands as the Basis for Moral Obligation
Authors: Evans C. Stephen
Published: March 2005

Divine command theory gives an account of obligation, specifically moral obligation. Any action God commands his human creatures to do is morally binding for them, and any action that is morally obligatory for humans has the status of being a moral obligation because God commands it. In Works of Love, Kierkegaard argues that our motivation to obey God is grounded in the special relationship we have with God – a relationship that begins with our birth and continues beyond our death. The grounds for God’s authority is not his power but his love, and God’s commands are not arbitrary but are rooted in God’s desire for human flourishing.
7 Divine Commands: How Given and To Whom?
Authors: Evans C. Stephen
Published: March 2005

The command to love our neighbour comes from special revelation, in the biblical texts themselves, and from general revelation, in the conscience. Thus, neighbour-love is a command that everyone can and should know. Special revelation is necessary because of human sin, but Kierkegaard should temper his attitude towards humanity’s sinfulness and qualify his belief that the nature of our obligation to love cannot be recognized by human beings apart from special revelation. In Works of Love, Kierkegaard shows that love is both a universal duty and a particular calling. Every person we meet is part of our common humanity and is an individual whom God calls.
10 Contemporary Meta‐Ethical Alternatives: Evolutionary Naturalism
Authors: Evans C. Stephen
Published: March 2005

Evolutionary naturalism is one possible ground for ethics that does not rely on divine commands. Larry Arnhart, in Darwinian Natural Right: The Biological Ethics of Human Nature, attempts to wed Darwinism to Aristotle in the hopes of demonstrating that contemporary biology provides a solid basis for understanding what is good and right for humans. Arnhart’s hopes falter, however, because he cannot maintain a particularistic ethic built on evolution and a universal ethic of obligation. The two cases of slavery and of female circumcision show the woeful inadequacies of an ethic that grounds moral obligation in biology. By contrast, the ethic of love based on a divine command is universal in its scope; neighbour-love extends across differences in race (in the case of slavery) and gender (in the case of female circumcision).
11 Contemporary Meta‐Ethical Alternatives: Humanistic Naturalism
Authors: Evans C. Stephen
Published: March 2005

Naturalistic humanism is another possible alternative to divine command theory. David Gauthier, in Morals by Agreement, rejects any objective theory of value, relying instead on the creation of social contracts developed by agreements whose purpose is to satisfy preferences. Three insurmountable problems confront Gauthier, however. First, grounding morality in agreements does not do away with the incentive to cheat. If morals develop when people employ strategies to maximize the efficient satisfaction of their preferences, then presumably they disappear when an opportunity arises to satisfy preferences even more thoroughly by abandoning those strategies. Second, if morality is grounded in a self-interested bargain, then its scope extends only to those who are party to the agreement. Finally, Gauthier’s belief that morality is valuable, in and of itself, flatly contradicts his thesis that morals are simply agreements and nothing else. With divine command theory, we have, by contrast, both an explanation for our beliefs about morality – God’s call – and an explanation for our failure to live a perfect, moral life – human sin.
12 Contemporary Meta‐Ethical Alternatives: Relativism and Nihilism
Authors: Evans C. Stephen
Published: March 2005

Gilbert Harman develops a theory of moral relativism in which rightness or wrongness depends on a framework. Differences in moral frameworks reflect differences in situation, power, and status. Harman’s relativism thus slides quickly into nihilism. He leaves us with no rational basis for criticizing evil people who do not adopt ‘our’ moral framework. Even a Hitler cannot be criticized so long as he consistently follows his own moral framework. Divine command theory responds to this moral confusion by asserting that our obligations are universal in scope because God commands them.
SENSITIVE MODERATE INVARIANTISM
Authors: Hawthorne John
Published: March 2005

This chapter examines sensitive moderate invariantism, and how it may help the puzzle. It describes two mechanisms that bear on the truth of knowledge claims; ones that are similar to contextualist machinery except that they are conceived of as making for subject-sensitivity. The sensitive moderate invariantist claims that the extension of ‘know’ depends not only on the kinds of actors traditionally adverted to accounts of knowledge but also on the kinds of factors that in the contextualist’s hands make for ascriber-dependence.
Streptosporangium yunnanense sp. nov. and Streptosporangium purpuratum sp. nov., from soil in China
Authors: Zhang Li-Ping , Jiang Cheng-Lin , Chen Wen-Xin
Published: March 2005

Two strains of Streptosporangium were isolated from Yunnan Province, a region of China with specific geographical conditions that contribute to its great microbiological diversity. They were identified using a polyphasic approach employing phenotypic, genotypic and phylogenetic techniques, such as study of morphological and physiological properties, cell chemistry, G+C content of the genomic DNA, DNA–DNA hybridization and phylogenetic analysis. The strains belong to two novel species of Streptosporangium on the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The results of morphological, physiological and biochemical investigations and DNA–DNA hybridization indicated that the two strains are different from known members of the genus Streptosporangium. The names Streptosporangium yunnanense sp. nov. (type strain CY-11007T=CCTCC AA 97009T=CCRC 16307T=DSM 44663T) and Streptosporangium purpuratum sp. nov. (type strain CY-15110T=CCTCC AA 97010T=CCRC 16308T=DSM 44688T) are proposed. They have been deposited in CCTCC in Wuhan.
Flavobacterium fryxellicola sp. nov. and Flavobacterium psychrolimnae sp. nov., novel psychrophilic bacteria isolated from microbial mats in Antarctic lakes
Authors: Van Trappen Stefanie , Vandecandelaere Ilse , Mergaert Joris , Swings Jean
Published: March 2005

Taxonomic studies were performed on seven strains isolated from microbial mats in Antarctic lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that these strains are related to the genus Flavobacterium; sequence similarity values with their nearest phylogenetic neighbours ranged from 97·0 to 98·7 %. Results of DNA–DNA hybridization and comparison of repetitive extragenic palindromic DNA-PCR fingerprinting patterns revealed that these strains are members of two distinct species. Genotypic results, together with phenotypic characteristics, allowed these species to be differentiated from related recognized Flavobacterium species. The isolates are psychrophilic, Gram-negative, chemoheterotrophic, rod-shaped cells. Their whole-cell fatty acid profiles are similar and include C15 : 0, C15 : 0 anteiso, C15 : 0 iso, C15 : 1
ω6c, C16 : 0 iso, C16 : 0 iso 3-OH, C16 : 1 iso and summed feature 3 (which comprises C15 : 0 iso 2-OH and/or C16 : 1
ω7c) as the major fatty acid components. On the basis of these results, two novel species are proposed: Flavobacterium fryxellicola sp. nov., consisting of three strains with LMG 22022T (=CIP 108325T) as the type strain; and Flavobacterium psychrolimnae sp. nov., consisting of four strains with LMG 22018T (=CIP 108326T) as the type strain. DNA G+C contents of F. fryxellicola and F. psychrolimnae are 35·2–35·9 and 33·8–34·5 mol%, respectively.
Lactobacillus acidifarinae sp. nov. and Lactobacillus zymae sp. nov., from wheat sourdoughs
Authors: Vancanneyt M. , Neysens P. , De Wachter M. , Engelbeen K. , Snauwaert C. , Cleenwerck I. , Van der Meulen R. , Hoste B. , Tsakalidou E. , De Vuyst L. , Swings J.
Published: March 2005

Three heterofermentative lactic acid bacteria, obtained from Greek and Belgian artisanal wheat sourdoughs, were preliminarily identified as Lactobacillus brevis-like after screening using whole-cell protein fingerprinting and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. The three sourdough isolates showed nearly identical sequences (>99·7 % sequence similarity), and highest similarities of 98·2 and 97·6 % were obtained to the species Lactobacillus spicheri and Lactobacillus brevis, respectively. Growth characteristics, biochemical features, amplified fragment length polymorphism fingerprinting, DNA–DNA hybridizations and DNA G+C contents demonstrated that the isolates represent two novel Lactobacillus species. The names Lactobacillus acidifarinae sp. nov. and Lactobacillus zymae sp. nov. are proposed and the type strains are LMG 22200T (=R-19065T=CCM 7240T) and LMG 22198T (=R-18615T=CCM 7241T), respectively.
Salinibacillus aidingensis gen. nov., sp. nov. and Salinibacillus kushneri sp. nov., moderately halophilic bacteria isolated from a neutral saline lake in Xin-Jiang, China
Authors: Ren Pei-Gen , Zhou Pei-Jin
Published: March 2005

Three Gram-positive, moderately halophilic, heterotrophic bacterial strains were isolated from a neutral saline lake in the Xin-Jiang area of China. The strains, designated 8-2T, W11-1 and 25-7T, were motile, spore-forming, aerobic rods and contained meso-diaminopimelic acid in their cell walls. Their DNA G+C contents were 37·4, 37·2 and 39·9 mol%, respectively. The main fatty acids in the cellular membranes of these novel strains were C15 and C17 methyl-branched. No species with validly published names showed 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity of more than 95 % with respect to these novel isolates; the most closely related species was a halophilic denitrifier, Bacillus halodenitrificans (94·6 %). Polyphasic taxonomic studies revealed that these strains belong to the Bacillaceae and are distantly related to other genera of the family. It is proposed that a new genus, Salinibacillus, should be created, with Salinibacillus aidingensis (type strain, 25-7T=AS 1.3565T=JCM 12389T) as the type species. Another species, Salinibacillus kushneri, is also proposed, with 8-2T (=AS 1.3566T=JCM 12390T) as the type strain.
Bradyrhizobium canariense sp. nov., an acid-tolerant endosymbiont that nodulates endemic genistoid legumes (Papilionoideae: Genisteae) from the Canary Islands, along with Bradyrhizobium japonicum bv. genistearum, Bradyrhizobium genospecies alpha and Bradyrhizobium genospecies beta
Authors: Vinuesa Pablo , León-Barrios Milagros , Silva Claudia , Willems Anne , Jarabo-Lorenzo Adriana , Pérez-Galdona Ricardo , Werner Dietrich , Martínez-Romero Esperanza
Published: March 2005

Highly diverseBradyrhizobiumstrains nodulate genistoid legumes (brooms) in the Canary Islands, Morocco, Spain and the Americas. Phylogenetic analyses of ITS,atpD,glnIIandrecAsequences revealed that these isolates represent at least four distinct evolutionary lineages within the genus, namelyBradyrhizobium japonicumand three unnamed genospecies. DNA–DNA hybridization experiments confirmed that one of the latter represents a new taxonomic species for which the nameBradyrhizobium canarienseis proposed.B. canariensepopulations experience homologous recombination at housekeeping loci, but are sexually isolated from sympatricB. japonicumbv.genistearumstrains in soils of the Canary Islands.B. canariensestrains are highly acid-tolerant, nodulate diverse legumes in the tribes Genisteae and Loteae, but notGlycinespecies, whereas acid-sensitiveB. japonicumsoybean isolates such as USDA 6Tand USDA 110 do not nodulate genistoid legumes. Based on host-range experiments and phylogenetic analyses of symbioticnifHandnodCsequences, the biovarietiesgenistearumandglycinearumfor the genistoid legume and soybean isolates, respectively, were proposed.B. canariensebv.genistearumstrains display an overlapped host range withB. japonicumbv.genistearumisolates, both sharing monophyleticnifHandnodCalleles, possibly due to the lateral transfer of a conjugative chromosomal symbiotic island across species.B. canarienseis the sister species ofB. japonicum, as inferred from a maximum-likelihoodBradyrhizobiumspecies phylogeny estimated from congruentglnII+recAsequence partitions, which resolves eight species clades. In addition to the currently described species, this phylogeny uncovered the novelBradyrhizobiumgenospecies alpha and beta and the photosynthetic strains as independent evolutionary lineages. The type strain forB. canarienseis BTA-1T(=ATCC BAA-1002T=LMG 22265T=CFNE 1008T).
Exiguobacterium aestuarii sp. nov. and Exiguobacterium marinum sp. nov., isolated from a tidal flat of the Yellow Sea in Korea
Authors: Kim In-Gi , Lee Mi-Hwa , Jung Seo-Youn , Song Jae Jun , Oh Tae-Kwang , Yoon Jung-Hoon
Published: March 2005

Three Gram-variable, rod-shaped bacterial strains, TF-16T, TF-19 and TF-80T, were isolated from a tidal flat of Daepo Beach (Yellow Sea) near Mokpo City, Korea, and their taxonomic positions were investigated by a polyphasic approach. These isolates grew optimally in the presence of 2 % NaCl and at 30 °C. Their peptidoglycan types were based on l-Lys–Gly. The predominant menaquinone detected in the three strains was MK-7. The three strains contained large amounts of the branched fatty acids iso-C17 : 0, anteiso-C13 : 0, iso-C13 : 0 and iso-C15 : 0. The DNA G+C contents of strains TF-16T, TF-19 and TF-80T were 48·6, 48·4 and 48·0 mol%, respectively. The three strains formed a coherent cluster with Exiguobacterium species in a phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences. They showed closest phylogenetic affiliation to Exiguobacterium aurantiacum, with 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values of 98·1–98·3 %. The three strains exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values of 94·0–94·6 % to the type strains of other Exiguobacterium species. Levels of DNA–DNA relatedness indicated that strains TF-16T and TF-19 and strain TF-80T are members of two species that are separate from E. aurantiacum. On the basis of phenotypic, phylogenetic and genetic data, strains TF-16T and TF-19 and strain TF-80T represent two novel species in the genus Exiguobacterium; the names Exiguobacterium aestuarii sp. nov. (type strain TF-16T=KCTC 19035T=DSM 16306T; reference strain TF-19) and Exiguobacterium marinum sp. nov. (type strain TF-80T=KCTC 19036T=DSM 16307T) are proposed.
Thioreductor micantisoli gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel mesophilic, sulfur-reducing chemolithoautotroph within the ε-Proteobacteria isolated from hydrothermal sediments in the Mid-Okinawa Trough
Authors: Nakagawa Satoshi , Inagaki Fumio , Takai Ken , Horikoshi Koki , Sako Yoshihiko
Published: March 2005

A novel mesophilic, hydrogen-oxidizing, sulfur-reducing bacterium, designated strain BKB25Ts-YT, was isolated from hydrothermal sediments at Iheya North in the Mid-Okinawa Trough, Japan. Cells were Gram-negative, motile rods (1·8–2·1 μm long and 0·5–0·7 μm wide). The isolate was a strictly anaerobic chemolithoautotroph capable of using molecular hydrogen as the sole energy source and carbon dioxide as the sole carbon source. Elemental sulfur and nitrate served as electron acceptors, respectively yielding hydrogen sulfide and ammonium. Growth was observed at 20–42 °C (optimum 32 °C; 3 h doubling time), pH 5·0–6·5 (optimum 6·0) and in the presence of 2·0–4·0 % NaCl (optimum 2·5 %) via respiratory S0reduction with H2. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 37·2 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that the isolate represented the first strain for which taxonomic properties have been characterized within the previously uncultivatedε-ProteobacteriaGroup G. On the basis of the physiological and molecular properties of the novel isolate, the genus nameThioreductorgen. nov. is proposed, withThioreductor micantisolisp. nov. as the type species. The type strain is BKB25Ts-YT(=JCM 12457T=DSM 16661T).
Jiangella gansuensis gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel actinomycete from a desert soil in north-west China
Authors: Song Lei , Li Wen-Jun , Wang Qi-Lan , Chen Guo-Zhong , Zhang Yao-Sheng , Xu Li-Hua
Published: March 2005

A novel actinomycete strain, designated YIM 002T, was isolated from a desert soil sample in Gansu Province, north-west China. This actinomycete isolate formed well-differentiated aerial and substrate mycelia. In the early stages of growth, the substrate mycelia fragmented into short or elongated rods. Chemotaxonomically, it contained ll-2,6-diaminopimelic acid in the cell wall. The cell-wall sugars contained ribose and glucose. Phospholipids present were phosphatidylinositol mannosides, phosphatidylinositol and diphosphatidylglycerol. MK-9(H4) was the predominant menaquinone. The major fatty acids were anteiso C15 : 0 (35·92 %), anteiso C17 : 0 (15·84 %), iso C15 : 0 (10·40 %), iso C16 : 0 (7·07 %) and C17 : 1
ω8c (9·37 %). The G+C content of the DNA was 70 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis and signature nucleotide data based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain YIM 002T is distinct from all recognized genera of the family Nocardioidaceae in the suborder Propionibacterineae. On the basis of the phenotypic and genotypic characteristics, it is proposed that isolate YIM 002T be classified as a novel species in a new genus, Jiangella gansuensis gen. nov., sp. nov. The type strain is YIM 002T (=DSM 44835T=CCTCC AA 204001T=KCTC 19044T).
Nonomuraea kuesteri sp. nov.
Authors: Kämpfer Peter , Kroppenstedt Reiner M. , Grün-Wollny Iris
Published: March 2005

A Gram-positive, aerobic, non-motile actinomycete, strain GW 14-1925T, that formed branched substrate and aerial mycelium was studied using a polyphasic approach. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity studies, strain GW 14-1925T was shown to belong to the genus Nonomuraea, being most closely related to Nonomuraea longicatena (97·9 %), Nonomuraea turkmeniaca (98·9 %), Nonomuraea helvata (98·6 %), Nonomuraea polychroma (98·5 %), Nonomuraea salmonaea (98·3 %), Nonomuraea roseoviolacea subsp. roseoviolacea (98·1 %) and Nonomuraea roseoviolacea subsp. carminata (97·7 %). The 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to other Nonomuraea species was <97·5 %. Chemotaxonomic data [major menaquinones of the MK-9 series with minor amounts of MK-8(H4); major polar lipids of phospholipid type IV; fatty acids with major amounts of iso- and anteiso- and 10-methyl-branched fatty acids in combination with iso-branched 2-hydroxy fatty acids] supported allocation of the strain to the genus Nonomuraea. The results of DNA–DNA hybridizations and physiological and biochemical tests allowed genotypic and phenotypic differentiation of strain GW 14-1925T from closely related species; thus, GW 14-1925T represents a novel species of the genus Nonomuraea, for which the name Nonomuraea kuesteri sp. nov. is proposed, with GW 14-1925T (=DSM 44753T=NRRL B-24325T) as the type strain.
Novosphingobium lentum sp. nov., a psychrotolerant bacterium from a polychlorophenol bioremediation process
Authors: Tiirola Marja A. , Busse Hans-Jürgen , Kämpfer Peter , Männistö Minna K.
Published: March 2005

A polychlorophenol-degrading strain, designated MT1T, and three MT1-like strains, MT101, MT103 and MT104, were isolated from a cold (4–8 °C) fluidized-bed process treating chlorophenol-contaminated groundwater in southern Finland. The organisms were Gram-negative, rod-shaped, catalase-positive, non-spore-forming and non-motile. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that the strains belonged to theα-4 subclass of theProteobacteriaand were members of the genusNovosphingobium. The highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity observed for these strains was 96·5 % with the type strains ofNovosphingobium hassiacum,Novosphingobium aromaticivoransandNovosphingobium subterraneum. Chemotaxonomic data (major ubiquinone: Q-10; major polyamine: spermidine; major polar lipids: phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine and sphingoglycolipid; major fatty acids: 18 : 1ω7c, 16 : 1ω7cand 2-OH 14 : 0) as well as the ability to reduce nitrate supported the affiliation of the strains to the genusNovosphingobium. Based on the phylogenetic analysis, whole-cell fatty acid composition as well as biochemical and physiological characteristics, the MT1-like strains were highly similar and could be separated from all recognizedNovosphingobiumspecies. The novel speciesNovosphingobium lentumsp. nov. is proposed to accommodate strains MT1T(=DSM 13663T=CCUG 45847T), MT101 (=CCUG 45849), MT103 (=CCUG 45850) and MT104 (=CCUG 45851).
Methanofollis formosanus sp. nov., isolated from a fish pond
Authors: Wu Sue-Yao , Chen Sheng-Chung , Lai Mei-Chin
Published: March 2005

A mesophilic, hydrogenotrophic methanogen, strain ML15T, was isolated from an aquaculture fish pond near Wang-gong, Taiwan. The cells were irregular cocci, non-motile, 1·5–2·0 μm in diameter and Gram-negative. Cells of strain ML15Tlysed easily in the presence of SDS (0·1 g l−1) and the S-layer protein had anMrof 138 800. The catabolic substrates utilized by this strain included formate and H2/CO2, but not acetate, methanol, trimethylamine or secondary alcohols. Growth did not occur in minimal medium, but was observed when yeast extract and tryptone were added. Strain ML15Tgrew fastest at 37 °C, pH 6·6–7·0 and with 3 % NaCl. Acetate was not required for cell growth. Trace amounts of tungstate promoted cell growth. The G+C contents of DNA ofMethanofollis aquaemarisN2F9704Tand strain ML15Twere 59·1 and 58·4 mol%, respectively. Sequence analysis of the 16S rRNA genes of strain ML15Tand selectedMethanofollisspecies revealed similarities of 95–97 %. Based on the data presented here, it is proposed that strain ML15T(=OCM 789T=DSM 15483T) represents a novel species,Methanofollis formosanussp. nov.
Marinicola seohaensis gen. nov., sp. nov., isolated from sea water of the Yellow Sea, Korea
Authors: Yoon Jung-Hoon , Kang So-Jung , Lee Choong-Hwan , Oh Tae-Kwang
Published: March 2005

A Gram-negative, non-flagellated, non-spore-forming and rod-shaped bacterial strain, SW-152T, was isolated from sea water of the Yellow Sea in Korea, and subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic study. Strain SW-152Tgrew optimally at 30 °C and in the presence of 2–3 % (w/v) NaCl. It contained MK-7 as the predominant menaquinone and iso-C15 : 0and iso-C15 : 1as the major fatty acids. Polar lipids detected in strain SW-152Twere phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol and unidentified lipids. The DNA G+C content was 40·3 mol%. Phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences exhibited that strain SW-152Tforms a distinct evolutionary lineage within theCytophaga–Flavobacterium–Bacteroides(CFB) group. Strain SW-152Texhibited low 16S rRNA similarity levels of less than 89·4 % to members belonging to the CFB group. Phenotypic properties of strain SW-152Tdifferentiate it from phylogenetically related taxa. On the basis of phenotypic and phylogenetic data, strain SW-152T(=KCTC 12312T=JCM 12600T) was classified in a novel genus and species,Marinicola seohaensisgen. nov., sp. nov.
Determination of the low-temperature structure of hexamethylbenzene
Authors: Stride John A.
Published: March 2005

The low-temperature structure of hexamethylbenzene has been determined from neutron powder diffraction data and found to differ from the room-temperature phase predominantly by a translation of molecular planes to a form a cubic close-packed type structure. By performing measurements as a function of temperature, the role of thermally induced agitation of the molecular units in the first-order phase transition is clearly demonstrated.
Incommensurate crystallographic shear structure of Ba
x
Bi2 − 2x
Ti4 − x
O11 − 4x
(x = 0.275)
Authors: Michiue Yuichi , Yamamoto Akiji , Onoda Mitsuko , Sato Akira , Akashi Takaya , Yamane Hisanori , Goto Takashi
Published: March 2005

The title compound generates diffraction patterns which are indexable within the framework of the higher-dimensional description of incommensurate structures. However, it is difficult to discriminate the main reflections from the satellite ones. This paper has clarified that the structure can be treated as a strongly modulated structure with sawtooth-like modulation functions and is classified as an incommensurate crystallographic shear (CS) structure. The structure consists of domains isostructural to β-Bi2Ti4O11 and domain boundaries composed of TiO6 octahedra. Ba and Bi ions are accommodated in the cavities between TiO6 octahedra in the domain. Domain boundaries are aperiodically inserted, in contrast to the usual CS structures, forming an incommensurate structure.