Pilibacter termitis gen. nov., sp. nov., a lactic acid bacterium from the hindgut of the Formosan subterranean termite (Coptotermes formosanus)

1 Department of Entomology, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, 404 Life Sciences Building, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA 2 Department of Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA 3 Department of Math and Sciences, Kapiolani Community College, Honolulu, HI, USA Correspondence Claudia Husseneder chusseneder{at}agcenter.lsu.edu A previously undescribed anaerobic, heterofermentative, non-spore-forming, Gram-positive rod was isolated from the hindgut of the Formosan subterranean termite Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki. The DNA G+C content of this bacterium was 37·8 mol%. Sequence analysis of the 16S rRNA gene revealed that this organism is related to, but distinct from, several genera of lactic acid bacteria, principally several species of the genus Enterococcus . Phenotypic traits that serve to separate this organism from related genera include high levels of the cellular fatty acid C18 : 1 9 c and the production of ethanol along with lactic acid as fermentation products. Based on the collected phylogenetic and phenotypic evidence, it is proposed that the unknown organism represents a novel species in a new genus, Pilibacter termitis gen. nov., sp. nov. The type strain is TI-1 T (=ATCC BAA-1030 T =CCUG 49613 T ). Abbreviations: DMA, dimethyl aldehyde; PYR, L -pyrrolidonyl -naphthylamide The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession number for the 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain TI-1 T is AY533171 .