Two strains of a hitherto undescribed Gram-positive catalase-negative, facultatively anaerobic coccus isolated from human sources were characterized by phenotypic and molecular taxonomic methods. Comparative 16s rRNA gene sequencing studies demonstrated the unknown strains were genealogically identical, and constitute a new line close to, but distinct from, the genera Facklamia and Globicatella. The unknown bacterium was readily distinguished from Facklamia species and Globicatella sanguinus by biochemical tests and electrophoretic analysis of whole-cell proteins. Based on phylogenetic and phenotypic evidence it is proposed that the unknown bacterium be classified as /gnawigranum ruoffiae gen. nov., sp. nov. The type strain of rgnavigranum ruoffiae is CCUG 37658T.

Fourteen strains of a hitherto unknown catalase-positive, aerobic, gram-positive coryneformlike organism were isolated from the milk of sheep with subclinical mastitis from different regions of Spain. The strains phenotypically closely resembled one another and biochemically were similar to Corynebacterium urealyticum and Corynebacterium afermentans subsp. lipophilum. The results of chemotaxonomic investigations were consistent with membership in the genus Corynebacterium, and comparative 16s rRNA gene sequencing studies showed that the unknown bacterium from sheep was indeed a member of the genus Corynebacterium. Within the genus Corynebacterium the new bacterium formed a distinct subline that exhibited >4% sequence divergence with other species. Based on both phenotypic and phylogenetic findings, a new species, Corynebacterium mustitidis, is proposed for the organisms from mastitic sheep. The type strain of C. mastitidis is CECT 4843 (= S-8).Mastitis is one of the most serious health problems of sheep used for milk production and can result in substantial economic losses. Although coagulase-negative staphylococci are the most important organisms associated with subclinical mastitis in sheep (4, 7), corynebacteria are also associated with a significant proportion of cases (25). Colynebacterium pseudotuberculosis and Coiynebacterium bovis are the species most commonly identified from goats and cows (3,12,15). However, the identities of Corynebacten'um species that produce subclinical mastitis in sheep are poorly understood (4). Within the coryneform group of bacteria, the genus Colynebacterium presently comprises the largest number of species, and many new Corynebncterium species associated with disease in humans have been described in the past decade (see reference 8 for a review). Despite the importance of this genus in clinical and veterinary medicine, the methods used for routine identification of Coiynebacterium species are generally unreliable, although some improvements (e.g., availability of miniaturized kits and improved databases) have been made (8,24). Our knowledge of the phylogenetic relationships within the genus Colynebacterium has been revolutionized in recent years by 16s rRNA gene sequence analysis (17). Furthermore, the high degree of specificity of 16s rRNA and the cumulative nature of sequence data have provided diagnosticians with immensely powerful tools for the recognition of new species (9,10,17,19,20). Indeed, the use of this phylogenetic approach (17) in combination with chemical and biochemical characterization (8) is resulting in a much improved taxonomy for this important group of bacteria.In a surveillance analysis of bacteria associated with subclinical mastitis of sheep from different regions of Spain, we isolated, from milk samples from several animals, 14 gram-positive coryneformlike rod-shaped organisms similar to, but different in some respects from, Coynebacteiium afermentans subsp. lipophilum and Co ynebacteriuiri urealyticum. In this report, we present the phenotypic chara...

Two strains of a hitherto-undescribed gram-positive, catalase-negative coccus isolated from human sources were characterized by phenotypic and molecular taxonomic methods. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequencing studies demonstrated that the unknown strains are genealogically identical and constitute a new line close to, but distinct from, Facklamia hominis. The unknown bacterium was readily distinguished from F. hominis by biochemical tests and electrophoretic analysis of whole-cell proteins. On the basis of phylogenetic and phenotypic evidence, it is proposed that the unknown bacterium be classified as Facklamia ignava sp. nov. The type strain of Facklamia ignava is CCUG 37419.