title: Lactobacillus ozensis sp. nov., isolated from mountain flowers.
abstract: Five strains (Mizu2-1(T), Gon2-7, Koba6-1, Koyu2-2 and Miya2-2) of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were isolated from flowers in Oze National Park, Japan, using anaerobic cultivation. The five isolates were found to share identical 16S rRNA gene sequences. The isolates exhibited low levels of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to known LAB; the closest recognized relatives of strain Mizu2-1(T) were the type strains of Lactobacillus kunkeei (94.9 %), Lactobacillus kefiri (94.1 %) and Lactobacillus buchneri (93.9 %). Comparative analyses of rpoA and pheS gene sequences demonstrated that the novel isolates did not show significant relationships to other Lactobacillus species. The strains were Gram-stain-positive, catalase-negative and heterofermentative. Anaerobic growth was better than aerobic growth. The isolates utilized a narrow range of carbohydrates as sources of carbon and energy, including glucose and fructose. On the basis of phenotypic characteristics and phylogenetic data, the isolates represent a novel species of the genus Lactobacillus, for which the name Lactobacillus ozensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is Mizu2-1(T) ( = JCM 17196(T)  = DSM 23829(T)).
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioscience, Tokyo University of Agriculture, 1-1-1 Sakuragaoka, Setagaya, Tokyo 156-8502, Japan.
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kawasaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioscience, Tokyo University of Agriculture, 1-1-1 Sakuragaoka, Setagaya, Tokyo 156-8502, Japan.
authors.forename: Kana
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kurosawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioscience, Tokyo University of Agriculture, 1-1-1 Sakuragaoka, Setagaya, Tokyo 156-8502, Japan.
authors.forename: Madoka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miyazaki
authors.affiliation: Microbe Division/Japan Collection of Microorganisms, RIKEN BioResource Center, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.
authors.forename: Mitsuo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sakamoto
authors.affiliation: Microbe Division/Japan Collection of Microorganisms, RIKEN BioResource Center, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.
authors.forename: Moriya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohkuma
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioscience, Tokyo University of Agriculture, 1-1-1 Sakuragaoka, Setagaya, Tokyo 156-8502, Japan.
authors.forename: Youichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Niimura
mesh_terms: D000332:Aerobiosis; D000693:Anaerobiosis; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D002374:Catalase / Q000378:metabolism; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005285:Fermentation; D035264:Flowers / Q000382:microbiology*; D052836:Heterotrophic Processes; D007564:Japan; D007778:Lactobacillus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D002374:Catalase