Bifidobacterium myosotis sp. nov., Bifidobacterium tissieri sp. nov. and Bifidobacterium hapali sp. nov., isolated from faeces of baby common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus L.)

In a previous study on bifidobacterial distribution in New World monkeys, six strains belonging to the Bifidobacteriaceae were isolated from faecal samples of baby common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus L.). All the isolates were Gram-positive-staining, anaerobic, asporogenous and fructose-6-phosphate phosphoketolase-positive. Comparative analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed relatively low levels of similarity (maximum identity 96 %) to members of the genus Bifidobacterium, and placed the isolates in three independent clusters: strains of cluster I (MRM_5.9T and MRM_5.10) and cluster III (MRM_5.18T and MRM_9.02) respectively showed 96.4 and 96.7 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to Bifidobacterium callitrichos DSM 23973T, while strains of cluster II (MRM_8.14T and MRM_9.14) showed 95.4 % similarity to Bifidobacterium stellenboschense DSM 23968T. Phylogenetic analysis of partial hsp60 and clpC gene sequences supported an independent phylogenetic position of each cluster from each other and from the related type strains B. callitrichos DSM 23973T and B. stellenboschense DSM 23968T. Clusters I, II and III respectively showed DNA G+C contents of 64.9-65.1, 56.4-56.7 and 63.1-63.7 mol%. The major cellular fatty acids of MRM_5.9T were C14 : 0, C16 : 0 and C18 : 1ω9c dimethylacetal, while C16 : 0 was prominent in strains MRM_5.18T and MRM_8.14T, followed by C18 : 1ω9c and C14 : 0. Biochemical profiles and growth parameters were recorded for all the isolates. Based on the data provided, the clusters represent three novel species, for which the names Bifidobacterium myosotis sp. nov. (type strain MRM_5.9T = DSM 100196T = JCM 30796T), Bifidobacterium hapali sp. nov. (type strain MRM_8.14T = DSM 100202T = JCM 30799T) and Bifidobacterium tissieri sp. nov. (type strain MRM_5.18T = DSM 100201T = JCM 30798T) are proposed.