title: Bartonella apis sp. nov., a honey bee gut symbiont of the class Alphaproteobacteria.
abstract: Here, we report the culture and characterization of an alphaproteobacterium of the order Rhizobiales, isolated from the gut of the honey bee Apis mellifera. Strain PEB0122T shares >95 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with species of the genus Bartonella, a group of mammalian pathogens transmitted by bloodsucking arthropods. Phylogenetic analyses showed that PEB0122T and related strains from the honey bee gut form a sister clade of the genus Bartonella. Optimal growth of strain PEB0122T was obtained on solid media supplemented with defibrinated sheep blood under microaerophilic conditions at 35-37 °C, which is consistent with the cultural characteristics of other species of the genus Bartonella. Reduced growth of strain PEB0122T also occurred under aerobic conditions. The rod-shaped cells of strain PEB0122T had a mean length of 1.2-1.8 μm and revealed hairy surface structures. Strain PEB0122T was positive for catalase, cytochrome c oxidase, urease and nitrate reductase. The fatty acid composition was comparable to those of other species of the genus Bartonella, with palmitic acid (C16 : 0) and isomers of 18- and 19-carbon chains being the most abundant. The genomic DNA G+C content of PEB0122T was determined to be about 45.5 mol%. The high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with species of Bartonella and its close phylogenetic position suggest that strain PEB0122T represents a novel species within the genus Bartonella, for which we propose the name Bartonella apis sp. nov. The type strain is PEB0122T ( = NCIMB 14961T = DSM 29779T).
authors.affiliation: Department of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Lucie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kešnerová
authors.affiliation: Department of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Roxane
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Moritz
authors.affiliation: Department of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Engel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D001473:Bartonella / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001482:Base Composition; D001516:Bees / Q000382:microbiology*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000382:microbiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013559:Symbiosis
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D005227:Fatty Acids; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S