title: Yersinia entomophaga sp. nov., isolated from the New Zealand grass grub Costelytra zealandica.
abstract: A Gram-negative, rod-shaped, non-spore-forming bacterium (MH96(T)) was isolated from diseased larvae of the New Zealand grass grub, Costelytra zealandica (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, strain MH96(T) is a member of the genus Yersinia, which is a member of the class Gammaproteobacteria. The most similar 16S rRNA gene sequence to that of MH96(T) is that of the type strain of Yersinia mollaretii (98.5 % similarity) followed by those of the type strains of Yersinia aldovae, Y. frederiksenii and Y. rohdei (all 98.4 % similarity). Multilocus sequence typing of five housekeeping genes (dnaJ, glnA, gyrB, groEL and recA) identified Yersinia ruckeri (81-92 % similarity) as the closest relative. The results of DNA-DNA hybridization and physiological and biochemical tests allowed genotypic and phenotypic differentiation of strain MH96(T) from the four most closely related Yersinia species with validly published names, including a Y. ruckeri isolate. Strain MH96(T) therefore represents a novel species, for which the name Yersinia entomophaga sp. nov. is proposed, with the type strain MH96(T) ( = DSM 22339(T)  = ATCC BAA-1678(T)).
authors.affiliation: BioControl, BioSecurity and BioProcessing, AgResearch, Lincoln Research Centre, Private Bag 4749, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Mark R H
authors.initials: MRH
authors.lastname: Hurst
authors.affiliation: Bioinformatics, Mathematics and Statistics, AgResearch Invermay, Dunedin, New Zealand.
authors.forename: S Anette
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Becher
authors.affiliation: BioControl, BioSecurity and BioProcessing, AgResearch, Lincoln Research Centre, Private Bag 4749, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Sandra D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Young
authors.affiliation: BioControl, BioSecurity and BioProcessing, AgResearch, Lincoln Research Centre, Private Bag 4749, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Tracey L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.affiliation: Bio-Protection Research Centre, PO Box 84, Lincoln University 7647, Canterbury, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Travis R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Glare
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000382:microbiology*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D007814:Larva / Q000382:microbiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D009520:New Zealand; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D015007:Yersinia / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S