Streptococcus oligofermentans sp. nov., a novel oral isolate from caries-free humans

Five streptococcal strains were isolated from dental plaque and saliva of caries-free humans. The cells were gram-positive, non-spore-forming, non-motile cocci that were arranged in short chains. The strains were catalase-negative, facultatively anaerobic and produced lactic acid exclusively from glucose fermentation. Biochemical analysis that used both conventional methods and the commercial API 20 Strep system showed that the five strains fermented only a few kinds of sugar. The mean DNA G + C content of the five novel strains was 39.5 +/- 0.8 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rDNA sequence homology indicated that the new isolates represented a novel member of the mitis group of the genus Streptococcus, related most closely to the recently described species Streptococcus sinensis. DNA-DNA relatedness between novel strain LMG 21535T and type strains of phylogenetically related species of oral streptococci was 7.1-16.4%. Therefore a novel Streptococcus species, Streptococcus oligofermentans sp. nov., is proposed. The type strain is LMG 21535T=AS 1.3089T.