Five strains (Ryu1-2 T , Gon2-9, Ryu4-3, Nog8-1 and Aza1-1) of lactic acid bacteria were isolated from flowers in mountainous areas in Japan, Oze National Park, Iizuna mountain and the Nikko area. The five isolates were found to share almost identical (99.6-100 % similar) 16S rRNA gene sequences and were therefore deemed to belong to the same species. These isolates exhibited low levels of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to known lactic acid bacteria; the closest recognized relatives to strain Ryu1-2 T were the type strains of Lactobacillus hilgardii (92.8 % similarity), Lactobacillus kefiri (92.7 %), Lactobacillus composti (92.6 %) and Lactobacillus buchneri (92.4 %). 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 homofermentative. 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, these isolates represent a novel species of the genus Lactobacillus, for which the name Lactobacillus floricola sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is Ryu1-2 T (5NRIC 0774 T 5JCM 16512 T 5DSM 23037 T ).Lactobacillus strains have been isolated from several plant sources such as fruit, grass, leaves, tree sap, flowers, fermented vegetables and fermented beverages such as wine, malt whisky, shochu and beer (summarized by

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 (5JCM 17196 T 5DSM 23829 T ).During our studies on the distribution of anaerobes in flowers, we have isolated several species of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from mountain flowers in Japan. We recently reported the isolation of a novel LAB, Lactobacillus floricola, from a mountainous area (Kawasaki et al., 2011). L. floricola showed quite low 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to known LAB, and also showed a narrow range of carbohydrate utilization, using only glucose and fructose. Here, we report the isolation of further isolates that exhibit low 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to known LAB and show a narrow range of carbohydrate utilization. During the course of our investigations of anaerobes in flowers from several mountainous areas in Japan since 2006, the novel species described in this study has been isolated only from the area of Oze National Park.Flowers were collected from Oze National Park in [2008][2009]. Flower samples were collected using autoclaved forceps and transferred immediately to sterile tubes. Bacteria were cultivated on MRS agar (Difco) containing 5.0 g calcium carbonate and 15 g agar l 21 at 20-30 u C under anaerobic conditions. After isolation, strains were maintained in MRS broth. The origins of the isolates are shown in Supplementary Fig. S1. The proposed type strain Mizu2-1 T was isolated from a flower of Inula ciliaris var. glandulosa, a chrysanthemum (Japanese common name, oze-mizugiku), that was collected in August 2008. A large number of colonies (10 4 -10 8 colonies per flower) were obtained, and the 16S rRNA gene sequences of randomly selected colonies suggested that these isolates represent the most abundant species in each flower (data not shown).Morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics were determined according to Okada et al. (1992), Holdeman et al. (1977) and Gerhardt et al. (1981), as described previously (Kawasaki et al., 2011...

Parental leave is one of most important policies for employees in nations like Japan that suffer from a low birthrate. Despite the various plans implemented by the Japanese government, fathers take significantly less parental leave than mothers. In the Japanese culture, which emphasizes gender role differentiation, male employees have a greater fear of providing unfavorable signals to employers regarding their dedication and performance if they take parental leave than female employees do. The present research examined data from 1553 Japanese employees, revealing that individual work and family factors influence the behaviors of female employees but not those of male employees. However, the perception of organizational support, which reduces employees' fear of giving employers the wrong impression when taking parental leave, has an impact on both male and female employees.