title: Bifidobacterium eulemurissp. nov., isolated from faeces of black lemurs (Eulemur macaco).
abstract: Forty-three strains of bifidobacteria were isolated from the faeces of two adult black lemurs,Eulemur macaco. Thirty-four were identified asBifidobacterium lemurum, recently described inLemur catta. The nine remaining isolates were Gram-positive-staining, non-spore-forming, fructose-6-phosphate phosphoketolase-positive, microaerophilic, irregular rod-shaped bacteria that often presented Y- or V-shaped cells. Typing techniques revealed that these isolates were nearly identical, and strain LMM_E3Twas chosen as a representative and characterized further. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences clustered this isolate inside the genusBifidobacteriumand showed the highest levels of sequence similarity withB. lemurumDSM 28807T(99.3 %), withBifidobacterium pullorumLMG 21816TandBifidobacterium longumsubsp.infantisATCC 15697T(96.4 and 96.3 %, respectively) as the next most similar strains. Thehsp60gene sequence of strain LMM_E3Tshowed the highest similarity to that ofBifidobacterium stellenboschenseDSM 23968T(93.3 %), and 91.0 % similarity to that of the type strain ofB. lemurum. DNA-DNA reassociation with the closest neighbourB. lemurumDSM 28807Twas found to be 65.4 %. The DNA G+C content was 62.3 mol%. Strain LMM_E3Tshowed a peptidoglycan structure that has not been detected in bifidobacteria so far: A3α l-Lys-l-Ser-l-Thr-l-Ala. Based on the phylogenetic, genotypic and phenotypic data, strain LMM_E3Trepresents a novel species within the genusBifidobacterium, for which the nameBifidobacterium eulemurissp. nov. is proposed; the type strain is LMM_E3T( = DSM 100216T= JCM 30801T).
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Samanta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Michelini
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Modesto
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Anna Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Pisi
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Gianfranco
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Filippini
authors.affiliation: Natura Viva Garda Zoological Park S.r.l, Bussolengo, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Camillo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sandri
authors.affiliation: Natura Viva Garda Zoological Park S.r.l, Bussolengo, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Caterina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Spiezio
authors.affiliation: Institute of Earth Systems, Division of Rural Sciences & Food Systems, University of Malta, Msida, Malta.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Biavati
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sgorbati
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mattarelli