Bifidobacterium reuteri sp. nov., Bifidobacterium callitrichos sp. nov., Bifidobacterium saguini sp. nov., Bifidobacterium stellenboschense sp. nov. and Bifidobacterium biavatii sp. nov. isolated from faeces of common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) and red

Five strains of bifidobacteria were isolated from faeces of a common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) and a red-handed tamarin (Saguinus midas). The five isolates clustered inside the phylogenetic group of the genus Bifidobacterium but did not show high sequence similarities between the isolates and to known species in the genus by phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences. Sequence analyses of dnaJ1 and hsp60 also indicated their independent phylogenetic positions to each other in the Bifidobacterium cluster. DNA G + C contents of the species ranged from 57.3 to 66.3 mol%, which is within the values recorded for Bifidobacterium species. All isolates showed fructose-6-phosphate phosphoketolase activity. Based on the data provided, the five isolates represent five novel species, for which the names Bifidobacterium reuteri sp. nov. (type strain: AFB22-1T = JCM 17295T = DSM 23975T), Bifidobacterium callitrichos sp. nov. (type strain: AFB22-5T = JCM 17296T = DSM 23973T), Bifidobacterium saguini sp. nov. (type strain: AFB23-1T = JCM 17297T = DSM 23967T), Bifidobacterium stellenboschense sp. nov. (type strain: AFB23-3T = JCM 17298T = DSM 23968T) and Bifidobacterium biavatii sp. nov. (type strain: AFB23-4T = JCM 17299T = DSM 23969T) are proposed.