Bifidobacterium bombi sp. nov., from the bumblebee digestive tract

1 Czech University of Life Sciences, Department of Microbiology, Nutrition and Dietetics, Kam cká 129, Prague 6 – Suchdol, 165 21, Czech Republic 2 Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics v.v.i., Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Víde ská 1083, Prague 4 – Kr , 142 20, Czech Republic 3 Institute of Microbiology v.v.i., Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Víde ská 1083, Prague 4 – Kr , 142 20, Czech Republic 4 Charles University in Prague, Department of Zoology, Albertov 6, Prague 2, 128 43, Czech Republic Correspondence J. Kope n kopecnyj{at}iapg.cas.cz Gram-positive-staining, anaerobic, non-spore-forming, lactate- and acetate-producing bacterial strains were isolated from the digestive tracts of different bumblebee species ( Bombus lucorum , Bombus pascuorum and Bombus lapidarius ). All of the isolates produced fructose-6-phosphate phosphoketolase activity. A representative strain, BluCI/TP T , was characterized further. Cells of strain BluCI/TP T showed occasional bifurcation and irregular constrictions. The bacterium utilized a wide range of carbohydrates. Glucose was fermented to acetate and lactate. The DNA base composition was 47.2 mol% G+C. Complete 16S rRNA and partial hsp60 gene sequences were obtained and phylogenetic relationships were determined. Strain BluCI/TP T and related isolates were located in the actinobacterial cluster and were closely related to the genera Bifidobacterium , Scardovia , Aeriscardovia and Parascardovia . The results presented support the proposal of a novel species to accommodate strain BluCI/TP T , with the name Bifidobacterium bombi sp. nov.; the type strain is BluCI/TP T (=DSM 19703 T =ATCC BAA-1567 T ). The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession numbers for the 16S rRNA and partial hsp60 gene sequences of strain BluCI/TP T are EU127549 and EU869281 .