Reclassification of Lactobacillus catenaformis (Eggerth 1935) Moore and Holdeman 1970 and Lactobacillus vitulinus Sharpe et al. 1973 as Eggerthia catenaformis gen. nov., comb. nov. and Kandleria vitulina gen. nov., comb. nov., respectively

Abstract

The development of molecular tools and in particular the use of 16S rRNA gene sequencing has had a profound effect on the taxonomy of many bacterial groups. Gram-positive organisms that encompass the genera Lactobacillus and Clostridium within the Firmicutes are examples of taxa that have undergone major revisions based on phylogenetic information. A consequence of these reorganizations is that a number of organisms are now recognized as being misclassified. Previous studies have demonstrated that Lactobacillus catenaformis and Lactobacillus vitulinus are phylogenetically unrelated to Lactobacillus sensu stricto, being placed within the Clostridia rRNA cluster XVII. Based on the phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic data presented, it is proposed that L. catenaformis and L. vitulinus be reclassified in two new genera, named respectively Eggerthia gen. nov., with the type species Eggerthia catenaformis gen. nov., comb. nov. (type strain DSM 20559T = ATCC 25536T = CCUG 48174T = CIP 104817T = JCM 1121T) and Kandleria gen. nov., with the type species Kandleria vitulina gen. nov., comb. nov. (type strain LMG 18931T = ATCC 27783T = CCUG 32236T = DSM 20405T = JCM 1143T).