Lactobacillus odoratitofui sp. nov., isolated from stinky tofu brine

Abstract

Three Gram-positive-staining strains isolated from fermented stinky tofu brine were rod-shaped, non-motile, asporogenous, facultatively anaerobic, heterofermentative and did not exhibit catalase activity. Comparative analyses of 16S rRNA, rpoA and pheS gene sequences demonstrated that the novel strains were members of the genus Lactobacillus. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, the type strains of Lactobacillus collinoides (98.6 %), Lactobacillus paracollinoides (98.6 %) and Lactobacillus similis (99.6 %) were the closest neighbours. However, DNA–DNA reassociation values with these strains were less than 10 %. The phenotypic and genotypic features demonstrated that these isolates represent a novel species of the genus Lactobacillus, for which the name Lactobacillus odoratitofui sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is YIT 11304T (=JCM 15043T =BCRC 17810T =DSM 19909T).