Huaxiibacter chinensis gen. nov., sp. nov., recovered from human sputum

Abstract

Strain 155047T was recovered from human sputum in China in 2021. Preliminary species identification based on limited phenotypic tests assigned the strain to the genus Enterobacter of the family Enterobacteriaceae . The genome sequence of the strain was obtained and had ≤84.43 % average nucleotide identity (ANI) and ≤26.3 % in silico DNA–DNA hybridization (isDDH) values with the genomes of type strains of known Enterobacteriaceae species. The highest ANI and isDDH matches were with Lelliottia nimipressuralis and Enterobacter asburiae , respectively. The ANI and isDDH values support that the strain belongs to a novel species of the family Enterobacteriaceae . Phylogenomic analysis based on core genes revealed that strain 155047T was located in the Enterobacter–Leclercia–Lelliottia–Pseudenterobacter lineage. The highest ANI and average amino acid identity values between 155047T and any species of the Enterobacter–Leclercia–Lelliottia–Pseudenterobacter lineage were 84.43 % and 90.21 %, respectively, lower than the maximum inter-genus pairwise values. This indicates that 155047T belongs to a novel species of a novel genus in the lineage. Strain 155047T could be differentiated from Enterobacter , Lelliottia , Leclercia and Pseudenterobacter species by a negative reaction for β-galactosidase and the ability to produce acid from l-fucose but not from sucrose. The names Huaxiibacter gen. nov. and Huaxiibacter chinensis sp. nov. are proposed for the novel genus and species, respectively. The type strain is 155047T (= GDMCC 1.2980T=JCM 35262T).