Vagococcus proximus sp. nov. and Vagococcus intermedius sp. nov., originating from modified atmosphere packaged broiler meat

During our studies on spoilage microbiomes of modified atmosphere packaged broiler meat, we isolated three strains (PNs007 , STAA11 and STAA25) of unknown identity. In this present polyphasic taxonomy study, including genome-based analyses, we discovered that these isolates represent two novel species belonging to the genus . In all phylogenetic analyses, PNs007 was positioned very close to but both the average nucleotide identity (ANI; 89.5 %) and digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH; 38.3 %) values distinguished it as a novel vagococcal species. STAA11 and STAA25 were genetically highly similar (16S rRNA, ANI and dDDH 100 %). The phylogenetic position of STAA11 was adjacent to but out of the cluster containing , and PNs007 . According to the ANI (76.2-76.4 %) and dDDH (