The phylogeny of Aerococcus and Pediococcus as determined by 16S rRNA sequence analysis: description of Tetragenococcus gen. nov.

Abstract

SUMMARY The phylogenetic interrelationships of the genera Pediococcus and Aerococcus were investigated using reverse transcriptase sequencing of 16S rRNA. The genus Pediococcus was found to be phylogenetically heterogeneous. The four species P. acidilactici, P. damnosus, P. parvulus and P. pentosaceus formed a phylogenetically distinct group. Within this pediococcal cluster, P. acidilactici was closely related to P. pentosaceus whereas F. damnosus showed a specific relationship with P. parvulus. The species P. dextrinicus, although showing significant sequence relatedness with these pediococcal species, was peripheral to the genus. Pediococcus halophilus exhibited low sequence homology with all of the species examined and formed a distinct line of descent. Pediococcus halophilus exhibited a closer affinity with enterococci and carnobacteria than with the other lactic acid bacteria. Pediococcus urinae‐equi was phylogenetically very closely related to Aerococcus viridans. The 16S rRNA sequences of the type strains of these species differed by only two nucleotides (99.9% sequence homology) and clearly demonstrate that P. urinae‐equi is a member of the genus Aerococcus.

Reclassification of Pediococcus urinaeequi (ex Mees 1934) Garvie 1988 as Aerococcus urinaeequi comb. nov.

“…A subsequent phylogenetic analysis performed on 16S rRNA gene sequences by Collins et al (1990) confirmed that the type strain of P. urinaeequi was more similar to strains of the genus Aerococcus, and to the species A. viridans in particular, than to other Pediococcus species. Based on this result, Simpson & Taguchi (1995) and Stiles & Holzapfel (1997) reported that the species P. urinaeequi did not belong to the genus Pediococcus.…”

Phylogenetic analysis of some Aerococcus-like organisms from urinary tract infections: description of Aerococcus urinae sp. nov.

“…These clinical ALOs differed from typical Aerococcus viridans strains in several phenotypic tests and their precise taxonomic status remained uncertain. 16s rRNA sequencing studies have done much to clarify the inter-and intra-generic relationships of aerococci, pediococci, streptococci and other lactic acid bacteria (Bentley et al, 1991 ;Collins et al, , 1990Martinez Murcia & Collins, 1990;Williams et al, 1991 ;Yang & Woese, 1989). Therefore, in the present study we have investigated the partial 16s rRNA sequences of five ALOs from urinary tract infections (Christensen et al, 1989(Christensen et al, , 1991 in an attempt to determine their true phylogenetic position.…”

Pediococcus stilesii sp. nov., isolated from maize grains

“…Based on the phylogeny, P. dextrinicus is distantly related to the other pediococci (Dobson et al, 2002) and is also phenotypically distinguished from other Pediococcus species by the combination of the production of L(+) lactate as the end product of glucose metabolism and the production of CO 2 from gluconate (Back, 1978;Simpson & Taguchi, 1995). Although P. dextrinicus is still a member of the genus, it has been suggested that it should be reclassified in the genus Lactobacillus (Collins et al, 1990;Dobson et al, 2002). In the present study, we describe a novel Pediococcus species, isolated from steeped white maize grains.…”