Phylogeny of the Ammonia-Producing Ruminal Bacteria Peptostreptococcus anaerobius, Clostridium sticklandii, and Clostridium aminophilum sp. nov.

Abstract

In previous studies, gram-positive bacteria which grew rapidly with peptides or an amino acid as the sole energy source were isolated from bovine rumina. Three isolates, strains C, FT (T = type strain), and SR, were considered to be ecologically important since they produced up to 20-fold more ammonia than other ammonia-producing ruminal bacteria. On the basis of phenotypic criteria, the taxonomic position of these new isolates was uncertain. In this study, the 16s rRNA sequences of these isolates and related bacteria were determined to establish the phylogenetic positions of the organisms. The sequences of strains C, FT, and SR and reference strains of Peptostreptococcus anaerobius, Clostridium sticklandii, Cbstridium coccoides, Cbstridium aminovalericum, Acetomaculum ruminis, Cbstridium leptum, Cbstridium lituseburense, Cbstridium acidiurici, and Clostridium barkeri were determined by using a modified Sanger dideoxy chain termination method. Strain C, a large coccus purported to belong to the genus Peptostrep#ococcus, was closely related to P. anaerobius, with a level of sequence similarity of 99.670. Strain SR, a heat-resistant, short, rod-shaped organism, was closely related to C. sticklandii, with a level of sequence similarity of 99.%. However, strain FT, a heat-resistant, pleomorphic, rod-shaped organism, was only distantly related to some clostridial species and P. anaerobius. On the basis of the sequence data, it was clear that strain FT warranted designation as a separate species. The closest known relative of strain FT was C. coccoides (level of similarity, only 90.6%). Additional strains that are phenotypically similar to strain FT were isolated in this study. On the basis of phenotypic and phylogenetic differences, we believe that strain FT represents a new species of the genus Cbstridium, for which we propose the name Clostridium aminophilum.

Clostridium hydroxybenzoicum sp. nov., an Amino Acid-Utilizing, Hydroxybenzoate-Decarboxylating Bacterium Isolated from Methanogenic Freshwater Pond Sediment

“…Thus, all of these species with similar G+ C contents are physiologically and phylogenetically different from C. hydroxybenzoicum. On the basis of 16s rRNA sequence analysis data, C. hydroxybenzoicum is much more closely related to the purinolytic clostridia, C. purinolyticum and C. acidiurici, than to the typical amino acid utilizers that have similar G+C contents (C. sticklandii and C. aminovalericum) and to other peptidolytic clostridia (27). However, since growth of C. hydroxybenzoicum is not stimulated by the addition of 10 mM adenine, hypoxanthine, uric acid, guanine, or xanthine to the medium, C. purinolyticum and C. acidiurici differ physiologically from C. FIG.…”

Description of Three New Species of the Genus Peptostreptococcus from Human Clinical Specimens: Peptostreptococcus harei sp. nov., Peptostreptococcus ivorii sp. nov., and Peptostreptococcus octavius sp. nov.

“…In addition to considerable metabolic diversity, members of the genus have been shown by nucleic acid analysis to be phylogenetically heterogeneous (2,11,15,22). In particular, Peptostreptococcus anaerobius, the type species of the genus Peptostreptococcus, is phylogenetically far removed from other peptostreptococci (11,22) and exhibits a close affinity with certain clostridial species (Clostridium rRNA cluster XI, as described by Collins et al [2]).…”

“…In addition to considerable metabolic diversity, members of the genus have been shown by nucleic acid analysis to be phylogenetically heterogeneous (2,11,15,22). In particular, Peptostreptococcus anaerobius, the type species of the genus Peptostreptococcus, is phylogenetically far removed from other peptostreptococci (11,22) and exhibits a close affinity with certain clostridial species (Clostridium rRNA cluster XI, as described by Collins et al [2]). Peptostreptococcusproductus has been shown to be a close phylogenetic relative of Clostridium coccoides and Streptococcus hansenii (Clostridium rRNA cluster XIVa [2]), whereas the majority of peptostreptococcal species form a phylogenetically distinct group closely related to Helcococcus kunzii (Clostridium rRNA cluster XI11 [2]).…”

The Phylogeny of the Genus Clostridium: Proposal of Five New Genera and Eleven New Species Combinations

“…If phylogenetic data are to be used as the basis for future taxonomic restructuring of the genus Clostridium, it is imperative that as many species as possible be sequenced and that the branching patterns of trees be resolved with confidence, In recent years there has been considerable progress toward this end, with complete (or nearly complete) 16s rRNA sequences available for more than 80 clostridial species (5,19,20,27,29,30,34,35,37,38,50). In this paper we describe the 16s rRNA gene sequences of an additional 34 clostridial strains and the results of a comparative sequence analysis and thereby provide an almost complete picture of the genealogical interrelationships in the genus.…”