ABSTRACT
Ten bacterial isolates belonging to the genus Vagococcus were obtained from Malian sour milk fènè produced from spontaneously fermented cow milk. However, these isolates could not be assigned to a species upon initial comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and were therefore further characterized. Rep-PCR fingerprinting of the isolates yielded four strain clusters represented by strains CG-21T (=DSM 21459T), 24CA, CM21 and 9H. Sequence identity of the 16S rRNA gene of DSM 21459T to its closest relative species Vagococcus penaei was 97.9%. Among the four rep strain clusters, DSM 21459T and 24CA shared highest 16S rRNA gene sequence identity of 99.6% while CM21 and 9H shared 98.6-98.8% with DSM 21459T and V. penaei CD276T. DSM 21459T and 24CA were thus subjected to a polyphasic typing approach. The genome of DSM 21459T featured a G+C content of 34.1mol% for a 2.17-bp chromosome and a 15-kbp plasmid. Average nucleotide identity (ANI) of DSM 21459T to Vagococcus fluvialis bH819, V. penaei CD276T were 72.88%, 72.63%, respectively. DNA-DNA hybridization (DDH) similarities of strain DSM 21459T to other Vagococcus species were <42.0%. ANI and DDH findings strongly supported the 16S rRNA gene phylogenetic tree delineations. The fatty acid patterns of DSM 21459T was palmitic acid (C 16:0, 24.5%), oleic acid (C 18:1-ω9c, 32.8%), stearic acid (C 18:0, 18.9%). General physiological characterization of DSM 21459T and 24CA were consistent with those of the genus Vagococcus. Strain DSM 21459T and further strains are therefore considered to belong to a novel species, for which the nomenclature Vagococcus teuberi sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is named CG-21T (=DSM 21459T and LMG 24695T).
