Streptococcus oriloxodontae sp. nov., isolated from the oral cavities of elephants

Abstract

Two strains were isolated from oral cavity samples of healthy elephants. The isolates were Grampositive, catalase-negative, coccus-shaped organisms that were tentatively identified as a streptococcal species based on the results of biochemical tests. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis suggested classification of these organisms in the genus Streptococcus with Streptococcus criceti ATCC 19642 T and Streptococcus orisuis NUM 1001 T as their closest phylogenetic neighbours with 98.2 and 96.9 % gene sequence similarity, respectively. When multi-locus sequence analysis using four housekeeping genes, groEL, rpoB, gyrB and sodA, was carried out, similarity of concatenated sequences of the four housekeeping genes from the new isolates and Streptococcus mutans was 89.7 %. DNA-DNA hybridization experiments suggested that the new isolates were distinct from S. criceti and other species of the genus Streptococcus. On the basis of genotypic and phenotypic differences, it is proposed that the novel isolates are classified in the genus Streptococcus as representatives of Streptococcus oriloxodontae sp. nov. The type strain of S. oriloxodontae is NUM 2101 T (5JCM 19285 T 5DSM 27377 T ).

Non-contiguous finished genome sequence and description of Streptococcus varani sp. nov.

“…Previous studies have reported that a large number of Streptococcus species colonize the oral cavities of humans and animals [2] . Among oral streptococci isolated from animals, we note: Streptococcus ursoris isolated from the oral cavities of bears [1] , Streptococcus orisratti isolated from the surface of the lower molars of Sprague-Dawley rats [3] , Streptococcus oriloxodontae isolated from the oral cavities of elephants [4] , and Streptococcus mutans isolated from dental plaque [5] .…”