 Methylobacterium radiotolerans

Methylobacterium radiotolerans is a species of bacteria within Methylobacterium. Its type strain has deposits including DSM1819, ATCC27329 and JCM2831. The organism was originally named Pseudomonas radiora; the accepted combination and corrected epithet place it in Methylobacterium. The epithet refers to tolerating radiation.^[ref]

A radiation-related name does not itself supply a survival curve. In an invented measurement, suppose a specified exposure leaves $2\times 10^5$ recoverable colony-forming units from an initially comparable $10^6$. The measured fraction is $2\times 10^5/10^6=0.2$, or 20 percent. Comparing organisms requires a stated bacterial strain, exposure and recovery readout; a single species adjective cannot fix those conditions or identify a universal resistance threshold. These numbers illustrate the measurement, not observed values for this species.

Reference-culture identity also matters when interpreting molecular data. LPSN notes that the older deposit DSM760, once associated with Methylobacterium organophilum, represents Methylobacterium radiotolerans.^[ref] A genome comparison based on an incorrect label could therefore attribute between-species differences to variation within one species. The name, maintained strain and measured phenotype are complementary pieces of a reproducible record.