Proposal of <i>Burkholderia</i> gen. nov. and Transfer of Seven Species of the Genus <i>Pseudomonas</i> Homology Group II to the New Genus, with the Type Species <i>Burkholderia cepacia</i> (Palleroni and Holmes 1981) comb. nov.

Abstract Based on the 16S rRNA sequences, DNA‐DNA homology values, cellular lipid and fatty acid composition, and phenotypic characteristics, a new genus Burkholderia is proposed for the RNA homology group II of genus Pseudomonas . Seven species in this group were transfered to the new genus. Thus seven new combinations, Burkholderia cepacia (Palleroni and Holmes 1981), Burkholderia mallei (Zopf 1885), Burkholderia pseudomallei (Whitmore 1913), Burkholderia caryophylli (Burkholder 1942), Burkholderia gladioli (Severini 1913), Burkholderia pickettii (Ralston et al 1973) and Burkholderia solanacearum (Smith 1896) were proposed.