J. Gen. Appl. Microbiol., 52, 55–62 (2006)

duced with a single species, Asaia bogorensis Yamada et al. 2000 in the family Acetobacteraceae Gillis and De Ley 1980 (Yamada et al., 2000). Since the second and the third species described were Asaia siamensis Katsura et al. 2001 and Asaia krungthepensis Yukphan et al. 2004, three species are in total reported (Katsura et al., 2001; Yamada et al., 2000; Yukphan et al., 2004c). The species assigned to the genus Asaia were characterized phenotypically by no oxidation or very weak oxidation of ethanol to acetic acid and by no growth in the presence of 0.35% (w/v) acetic acid. For the species-level identification and classification of acetic acid bacteria, including strains assigned to the genus Asaia, phenotypic characteristics such as acid production from sugars and sugar alcohols and assimilation of carbon compounds are generally utilized (Asai et al., 1964; Katsura et al., 2001; Lisdiyanti et al., 2002; Yamada et al., 1976, 1999, 2000; Yukphan et al., 2004c, d). However, data obtained by phenotypic characterization are not only difficult but also very often inaccurate. The phenotypic characteristics obtained are sometimes unreliable. On the other Identification of strains assigned to the genus Asaia Yamada et al. 2000 based on restriction analysis of 16S-23S rDNA internal transcribed spacer regions