Novosphingobium strains have been isolated from a wide variety of sources including soil, both marine and fresh waters, marine life, and from plants. Many of the first isolates assigned to this genus (S. paucimobilis) were derived from human clinical specimens or water samples taken from hospital environments and members of this species have been subsequently shown to behave as opportunistic pathogens (Miyazaka et. al. 1995). More recently, Novosphingobium has been linked to the death of coral reefs off the Florida coast (Richardson, et al. 1998). Although there is an emerging role of Novosphingobium species in disease, members of this genus are best known for their ability to degrade a wide variety of aromatic hydrocarbons.