A fructose-6-phosphate phosphoketolase-positive strain (GSD1FST) was isolated from a faecal sample of a 3 weeks old German Shepherd dog. The closest related taxa to isolate GSD1FST based on results from the EZBioCloud database were Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. animalis ATCC 25527T, Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis DSM 10140T and Bifidobacterium anseris LMG 30189T, belonging to the Bifidobacterium pseudolongum phylogenetic group. The resulting 16S rRNA gene identities (compared length of 1454 nucleotides) towards these taxa were 97.30, 97.23 and 97.09 %, respectively. The pairwise similarities of strain GSD1FST using argS, atpA, fusA, hsp60, pyrG, rpsC, thrS and xfp gene fragments to all valid representatives of the B. pseudolongum phylogenetic group were in the concatenated range of 83.08–88.34 %. Phylogenomic analysis based on whole-genome methods such as average nucleotide identity revealed that bifidobacterial strain GSD1FST exhibits close phylogenetic relatedness (88.17 %) to Bifidobacetrium cuniculi LMG 10738T. Genotypic characteristics and phylogenetic analyses based on nine molecular markers, as well as genomic and comparative phenotypic analyses, clearly proved that the evaluated strain should be considered as representing a novel species within the B. pseudolongum phylogenetic group named as Bifidobacterium canis sp. nov. (GSD1FST=DSM 105923T=LMG 30345T=CCM 8806T).

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Sarcina spp. has been isolated from the gastrointestinal tracts of diverse mammalian hosts. Their presence is often associated with host health complications, as is evident from many previously published medical case reports. However, only a handful of studies have made proper identification. Most other identifications were solely based on typical Sarcina-like morphology without genotyping. Therefore, the aim of this work was culture detection and the taxonomic classification of Sarcina isolates originating from different mammalian hosts. Sarcina-like colonies were isolated and collected during cultivation analyses of animal fecal samples (n = 197) from primates, dogs, calves of domestic cattle, elephants, and rhinoceroses. The study was carried out on apparently healthy animals kept in zoos or by breeders in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Selected isolates were identified and compared using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and multi-locus sequence analysis (MLSA; Iles, pheT, pyrG, rplB, rplC, and rpsC). The results indicate the taxonomic variability of Sarcina isolates. S. ventriculi appears to be a common gut microorganism in various captive primates. In contrast, a random occurrence was also recorded in dogs. However, dog isolate N13/4e could represent the next potential novel Sarcina taxonomic unit. Also, a potentially novel Sarcina species was found in elephants, with occurrences in all tested hosts. S. maxima isolates were detected rarely, only in rhinoceroses. Although Sarcina bacteria are often linked to lethal diseases, our results indicate that Sarcina spp. appear to be a common member of the gut microbiota and seem to be an opportunistic pathogen. Further characterization and pathogenic analyses are required.