''Methylorubrum'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...

from the family ''

Methylobacteriaceae The Methylobacteriaceae are a family of Hyphomicrobiales The Hyphomicrobiale' (synonym Rhizobiales) are an order of Gram-negative Alphaproteobacteria. The rhizobia, which fix nitrogen and are symbiotic with plant roots, appear in several ...

''. The taxonomic validity of ''Methylorubrum'' is debated. In 2018, 11 ''

Methylobacterium ''Methylobacterium'' is a genus of bacteria, also designated as Pink-Pigmented Facultative Methylotrophs (PPFMs). ''Methylobacterium'' is commonly found in soil, water, and particularly in association with the phyllosphere, the aerial part of p ...

'' species, including '' Methylobacterium extorquens'', were transferred to ''Methylorubrum''. This emendation mostly relied on the

16S rRNA gene 16S ribosomal RNA (or 16 S rRNA) is the RNA component of the 30S subunit of a prokaryotic ribosome (SSU rRNA). It binds to the Shine-Dalgarno sequence and provides most of the SSU structure. The genes coding for it are referred to as 16S rRN ...

phylogeny A phylogenetic tree or phylogeny is a graphical representation which shows the evolutionary history between a set of species or Taxon, taxa during a specific time.Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, M ...

. In 2021 and 2022, two studies based on

phylogenomic Phylogenomics is the intersection of the fields of evolution and genomics. The term has been used in multiple ways to refer to analysis that involves genome data and evolutionary reconstructions. It is a group of techniques within the larger fields ...

and

phenotypic In genetics, the phenotype () is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. The term covers the organism's morphology (physical form and structure), its developmental processes, its biochemical and physiological propert ...

data independently pointed the lack of support for ''Methylorubrum'' as a distinct genus, calling for its abandonment and the reinstatement of the former ''

'' taxonomy. In 2025, despite controversy, and its emendation back to the original ''Methylobacterium'' taxonomy, ''Methylorubrum'' was still a valid genus name in some databases like

NCBI The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) is part of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), a branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It is approved and funded by the government of the United States. The NCBI is loca ...

and in the

List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature (LPSN) is an online database that maintains information on the naming and taxonomy of prokaryotes, following the taxonomy requirements and rulings of the International Code of Nomenclatu ...

References

Hyphomicrobiales Bacteria genera {{Hyphomicrobiales-stub