A taxonomic note on the genus Lactobacillus: Description of 23 novel genera, emended description of the genus Lactobacillus Beijerinck 1901, and union of Lactobacillaceae and Leuconostocaceae
Author
Zheng, Jinshui
Author
Wittouck, Stijn
Author
Salvetti, Elisa
Author
Franz, Charles M. A. P.
Author
Harris, Hugh M. B.
Author
Mattarelli, Paola
Author
O’Toole, Paul W.
Author
Pot, Bruno
Author
Vandamme, Peter
Author
Walter, Jens
Author
Watanabe, Koichi
Author
Wuyts, Sander
Author
Felis, Giovanna E.
Author
Gänzle, Michael G.
Author
Lebeer, Sarah
text
International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology
2020
2020-04-15
70
2782
2858
journal article
7136
10.1099/ijsem.0.004107
c650e745-85a1-48ca-b29a-b1714f644bae
4730536
DESCRIPTIONOF
APILACTOBACILLUS
GEN. NOV.
Apilactobacillus
(A.pi.lac.to.ba.cil'lus. L. fem. n.
apis
bee; N.L. masc. n.
Lactobacillus
a bacterial genus name; N.L. masc. n.
Apilactobacillus
a lactobacillus from bees).
Gram positive, rod-shaped, heterofermentative. Growth is generally observed in the range of 15–37 °C; many strains grow at acidic conditions below pH 3.0. Strains in the genus have small genomes ranging from 1.42 Mbp for
Apilactobacillus kosoi
to 1.58 Mbp for
Apilactobacillus quenuiae
;
the mol% G+C content of DNA ranges from 30.5 to 36.4. All strains in the genus convert fructose to mannitol; strains in thegenus typically ferment very few carbohydrates including the pollen and bee-associated carbohydrates fructose, glucose, and sucrose but not maltose or pentoses. Comparable to
Fructilactobacillus
,
Apilactobacillus
has an insect-associated lifestyle and occurs on flowers, which serve as hub for dispersal of lactobacilli, and insects [
320
]. In contrast to
Fructilactobacillus
,
Apilactobacillus
has adapted to bees including honeybees (
A. apinorum
,
A. kunkeei
) and wild bees (
A. timberlakei
,
A. micheneri
,
A. quenuiae
). In the bee and bumblebee gut,
Apilactobacillus
is associated with its homofermentative sister genus
Bombilactobacillus
.
Aphylogenetic tree on the basis of 16S rRNA genes of all species in the genus
Apilactobacillus
is provided in
Figure S6R
.
The type speciesof the genusis
Apilactobacillus kunkeei
comb. nov.
Apilactobacilus
was previously referred to as
L. kunkeei
group.