Vagococcus teuberi sp. nov., isolated from the Malian artisanal sour milk fènè

Ten bacterial isolates belonging to the genus Vagococcus were obtained from Malian sour milk fènè produced from spontaneously fermented cow milk. However, these isolates could not be assigned to a species upon initial comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and were therefore further characterized. Rep-PCR fingerprinting of the isolates yielded four strain clusters represented by strains CG-21T (=DSM 21459T), 24CA, CM21 and 9H. Sequence identity of the 16S rRNA gene of DSM 21459T to its closest relative species Vagococcus penaei was 97.9%. Among the four rep strain clusters, DSM 21459T and 24CA shared highest 16S rRNA gene sequence identity of 99.6% while CM21 and 9H shared 98.6-98.8% with DSM 21459T and V. penaei CD276T. DSM 21459T and 24CA were thus subjected to a polyphasic typing approach. The genome of DSM 21459T featured a G + C content of 34.1 mol% for a 2.17-bp chromosome and a 15-kbp plasmid. Average nucleotide identity (ANI) of DSM 21459T to Vagococcus fluvialis bH819, V. penaei CD276T were 72.88%, 72.63%, respectively. DNA-DNA hybridization (DDH) similarities of strain DSM 21459T to other Vagococcus species were <42.0%. ANI and DDH findings strongly supported the 16S rRNA gene phylogenetic tree delineations. The fatty acid patterns of DSM 21459T was palmitic acid (C 16:0, 24.5%), oleic acid (C 18:1-ω9c, 32.8%), stearic acid (C 18:0, 18.9%). General physiological characterization of DSM 21459T and 24CA were consistent with those of the genus Vagococcus. Strain DSM 21459T and further strains are therefore considered to belong to a novel species, for which the nomenclature Vagococcus teuberi sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is named CG-21T (=DSM 21459T and LMG 24695T).