Enterococcus olivae sp. nov., isolated from Spanish-style green-olive fermentations

Abstract

Six strains of a hitherto unknown, Gram-stain-positive coccus were recovered from samples of Spanish-style green-olive fermentations. The 16S rRNA gene sequences from these isolates shared 98.7 % and 98.5 % of their nucleotide positions with those from Enterococcus saccharolyticus subsp. taiwanensis 812T and from E. saccharolyticus subsp. saccharolyticus ATCC 43076T, respectively. The sequence of the rpoA gene in the isolates was 95 % similar to that of E. saccharolyticus CECT 4309T ( = ATCC 43076T). The 16S rRNA and rpoA gene phylogenies revealed that the isolates grouped in a statistically well-supported cluster separate from E. saccharolyticus . Enzyme activity profiles as well as fermentation patterns differentiated the novel bacteria from other members of the Enterococcus genus. Finally, phenotypic, genotypic and phylogenetic data supported the identification of a novel species of the genus Enterococcus , for which the name Enterococcus olivae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is IGG16.11T ( = CECT 8063T = DSM 25431T).