Leuconostoc litchii sp. nov., a novel lactic acid bacterium isolated from lychee

A novel lactic acid bacterium, strain MB7 T , was isolated from lychee in Taiwan. MB7 T is Gram-staining-positive, catalase-negative, non-motile, non-haemolytic, facultatively anaerobic, coccoid-shaped, heterofermentative and mainly produces d -lactic acid from glucose. Comparative analysis of 16S rRNA, pheS and rpoA gene sequences has demonstrated that the novel strain represented a member of the genus Leuconostoc . 16S rRNA gene sequencing results indicated that MB7 T had the same sequence similarity of 99.25 % to four type strains of members of the genus Leuconostoc : Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. dextranicum DSM 20484 T , Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. jonggajibkimchii DRC 1506 T , Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides ATCC 8293 T and Leuconostoc suionicum DSM 20241 T . Additionally, high 16S rRNA sequence similarities were also observed with Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. cremoris ATCC 19254 T (99.12 %) and Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides NRIC 1777 T (98.69 %). When comparing the genomes of these type strains, the average nucleotide identity values and digital DNA–DNA hybridization values of MB7 T with these type strains were 76.57–80.53 and 22.0–22.6 %, respectively. MB7 T also showed different phenotypic characteristics to other most closely related species of the genus Leuconostoc , such as carbohydrate metabolizing ability, halotolerance and growth at various pHs. On the basis of phenotypic and genotypic properties, strain MB7 T represents a novel species belonging to the genus Leuconostoc , for which the name Leuconostoc litchii sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is MB7 T (=BCRC 81077 T =NBRC 113542 T ).