Yersinia aleksiciae sp. nov

Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, Department of Bacteriology, Neuherbergstraße 11, D-80937 München, Germany Correspondence Lisa D. Sprague natter13{at}gmx.de Yersinia kristensenii consists of phenotypically heterogeneous strains. This is reflected by the existence of strains with various multilocus enzyme electrophoresis and 16S rRNA gene sequence types. Strains originally phenotyped as members of Y. kristensenii were studied using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, DNA–DNA hybridization, determination of the DNA base composition and various phenotypic tests. The results were compared to those of Yersinia type strains. Based on levels of DNA–DNA relatedness, a specific 16S rRNA gene sequence type and the presence of lysine decarboxylase activity, a novel species, Y ersinia aleksiciae sp. nov., is proposed. The type strain is Y159 T (=WA758 T =DSM 14987 T =LMG 22254 T ). Abbreviations: LDC, lysine decarboxylase; MLEE, multilocus enzyme electrophoresis Published online ahead of print on 29 October 2004 as DOI 10.1099/ijs.0.63220-0. The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession numbers for the 16S rRNA gene sequences of strains Y221, Y156, Y159 T , Y160, Y390, Y389 and Y388 are AJ627594 , AJ627595 and AJ627597 –AJ627601, respectively. Phenotypic characteristics and DNA–DNA hybridization results for various Yersinia isolates are available as supplementary tables in IJSEM Online. Present address: Klinik und Poliklinik für Strahlentherapie und Radiologische Onkologie der TU-München, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Ismaningerstraße 22, 81675 München, Germany.