Oecophyllibacter saccharovorans gen. nov. sp. nov., a bacterial symbiont of the weaver ant Oecophylla smaragdina

Abstract

In this study, bacterial strains Ha5 T , Ta1 and Jb2 were isolated from different colonies of weaver ant Oecophylla smaragdina. They were distinguished as different strains based on matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry and distinctive randomamplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprints. Cells of these bacterial strains were Gram-negative, rod-shaped, aerobic, non-motile, catalase-positive and oxidase-negative. They were able to grow at 15-37°C (optimum, 28-30°C) and in the presence of 0-1.5 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum 0%). Their predominant cellular fatty acids were C18:1 ω7c, C16:0, C19:0 ω8c cyclo, C14:0 and C16:0 2-OH. Strains Ha5 T , Ta1 and Jb2 shared highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (94.56-94.63%) with Neokomagataea tanensis NBRC106556 T but were phylogenetically closer to Bombella spp. and Saccharibacter floricola DSM15669 T . Both 16S rRNA gene sequence-based phylogenetic analysis and core gene-based phylogenomic analysis placed them in a distinct lineage in family Acetobacteraceae.These bacterial strains shared higher than species level thresholds in multiple overall genomerelatedness indices which indicated that they belonged to the same species. In addition, they did not belong to any of the current taxa of Acetobacteraceae as they had low pairwise average nucleotide identity (70.7%), in silico DNA-DNA hybridization (39.5%) and average amino acid identity

Aristophania vespae gen. nov., sp. nov., isolated from wasps, is related to Bombella and Oecophyllibacter, isolated from bees and ants

“…Four validated names have been reported for Bombella species: Bombella intestini from bumblebees [14], and Bombella apis , Bombella mellum and Bombella favorum from honeybees [15–17]. Furthermore, Oecophyllibacter saccharovorans and ‘ Formicincola oecophyllae ’ were isolated from the weaver ant [18, 19]. Interestingly, Bombella species can protect the beehive from fungal pathogens [20].…”

Valid publication of new names and new combinations effectively published outside the IJSEM

“…massiliense…). 25 The protologue heading must read 'Description of Varibaculum timonense sp. nov.' instead of 'Description of Varibaculum timonense strain Marseille-P3369 T sp.…”