Staphylococcus hsinchuensis sp. nov., Isolated from Soymilk.

A novel coagulase-negative Staphylococcus strain (H164T) was isolated from soymilk in Taiwan. Comparative sequence analysis of the 16S rRNA gene revealed that the H164T strain is a member of the genus Staphylococcus. We used multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) and phylogenomic analyses to demonstrate that the novel strain was closely related to Staphylococcus gallinarum, Staphylococcus nepalensis, Staphylococcus cohnii, and Staphylococcus urealyuticus. The average nucleotide identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values between H164T and its closest relatives were <95% and <70%, respectively. The H164T strain could also be distinguished from its closest relatives by the fermentation of d-fructose, d-maltose, d-trehalose, and d-mannitol, as well as by the activities of α-glucosidase and alkaline phosphatase. The major cellular fatty acids were C15:0 iso and C15:0 anteiso, and the predominant menaquinones were MK-7 and MK-8, respectively. The major cellular fatty acids and predominant menaquinones were C15:0 iso and C15:0 anteiso and MK-7 and MK-8, respectively. In conclusion, this strain represents a novel species, named Staphylococcus hsinchuensis sp. nov., with the type strain H164T (=BCRC 81404T = NBRC 116174T).

Micrococcus porci sp. nov., Isolated from Feces of Black Pig (Sus scrofa).

An aerobic bacterium, designated as strain KD337-16T, was isolated from the fecal samples of a black pig. It exhibited spherical, non-motile and non−spore-forming, Gram-positive cells. KD337-16T was identified as a member of the genus Micrococcus through 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and its closest relatives were found to be Micrococcus endophyticus YIM 56238T (99.5% similarity), Micrococcus luteus NCTC 2665T (99.1%), Micrococcus yunnanensis YIM 65004T (99.1%), Micrococcus aloeverae AE-6T (99.1%), Micrococcus antarcticus T2T (98.9%), and Micrococcus flavus LW4T (98.7%). Phylogenomic trees were constructed, and strain KD337-16T was found to form its own cluster as an independent lineage of M. flavus LW4T. Between KD337-16T and its close relatives, the average nucleotide identity, average amino acid identity, and digital DNA−DNA hybridization were below the respective species delineation thresholds at 82.1−86.6%, 78.1−86.1%, and 24.4−34.9%. The major cellular fatty acids and polar lipids were anteiso-C15:0 and iso-C15:0, and DPG and PG, respectively. The predominant menaquinone was MK-8(H2). Taken together, the results indicate that strain KD337-16T is a novel species of the genus Micrococcus, for which the name Micrococcus porci sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is KD337-16T (=BCRC 81318T = NBRC 115578T).

Reclassification of Micrococcus aloeverae and Micrococcus yunnanensis as later heterotypic synonyms of Micrococcus luteus.

Micrococcus aloeverae,Micrococcus endophyticus, Micrococcus luteus and Micrococcus yunnanensis are phenotypically and genotypically closely related, and together comprise the M. luteus group. In this study, the taxonomic relationships among Micrococcus aloeverae, M. luteus and M. yunnanensis were re-evaluated by using polyphasic approaches. The similarity values of the concatenated housekeeping gene (gyrB, recA and rpoB) sequences shared by the type strains of M. aloeverae, M. luteus and M. yunnanensis ranged from 98.3 to 99.4 %. The average nucleotide identity, average amino acid identity and digital DNA‒DNA hybridization values among these three taxa were greater (97.1‒98.1 %, 96.8‒98.1 % and 75.0‒83.5 %, respectively) than the thresholds for bacterial species delineation, indicating that they belong to the same species, whereas those for M. endophyticus were clearly lower than the thresholds. In addition, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic characterization results also support the synonymy of these three taxa. Therefore, we propose that M. aloeverae and M. yunnanensis should be reclassified as later heterotypic synonyms of M. luteus.

Polyphasic characterization of a novel species in the Lactobacillus casei group from cow manure of Taiwan: Description of L. chiayiensis sp. nov.

Two Gram-stain-positive, rod-shaped, non-motile, catalase-negative and facultative anaerobic strains, NCYUAST and BCRC 18859 (=NRIC 1947), were isolated from cow manure of Taiwan and coconut juice of Philippines, respectively. Comparative sequence analysis of 16S rRNA gene revealed that the novel strains were members of the genus Lactobacillus. These two strains had 100% of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity and 98.6% of average nucleotide identity (ANI) value based on whole genome sequences. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, the type strains of Lactobacillus casei (99.6% similarity), Lactobacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei (99.1%), L. paracasei subsp. tolerans (99.1%), Lactobacillus rhmnosus (99.0%) and 'Lactobacillus zeae' (99.7%) were the closest neighbors to these novel strains. The results of phenotypic and chemotaxonomic characterization, multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) based on the sequences of three housekeeping genes (dnaK, pheS and yycH), whole-genome sequence (WGS)-based comparison by ANI and in silico DNA-DNA hybridization (isDDH), species-specific PCR and whole-cell MALDI-TOF MS spectral pattern analyses demonstrated that the novel two strains represented a single, novel species within the L. casei group, for which the name Lactobacillus chiayiensis sp. nov., is proposed. The type strain is NCYUAST (=BCRC 81062T=NBRC 112906T).