Gemella massiliensis sp. nov., a new bacterium isolated from the human sputum

Maxime Descartes Mbogning Fonkou (1) , Cheikh Ibrahima Lo (2) , Zouina Mekhalif , Melhem Bilen (1) , Enora Tomei (3) , Edmond Kuete Yimagou , Grégory Dubourg (1) , Didier Raoult (1) , Florence Fenollar (3) , Pierre-Edouard Fournier (3)

1 MEPHI - Microbes évolution phylogénie et infections
2 IHU Marseille - Institut Hospitalier Universitaire Méditerranée Infection
3 VITROME - Vecteurs - Infections tropicales et méditerranéennes

Abstract Thanks to its ability to isolate previously uncultured bacterial species, culturomics has dynamized the study of the human microbiota. A new bacterial species, Gemella massiliensis Marseille-P3249 T , was isolated from a sputum sample of a healthy French man. Strain Marseille-P3249 T is a facultative anaerobe, catalase-negative, Gram positive, coccus, and unable to sporulate. The major fatty acids were C 16:0 (34%), C 18:1n9 (28%), C 18:0 (15%) and C 18:2n6 (13%). Its 16S rRNA sequence exhibits a 98.3% sequence similarity with Gemella bergeri strain 617-93 T , its phylogenetically closest species with standing in nomenclature. Its digital DNA–DNA hybridization (dDDH) and OrthoANI values with G. bergeri of only 59.7 ± 5.6% and 94.8%, respectively. These values are lower than the thresholds for species delineation (> 70% and > 95%, respectively). This strain grows optimally at 37 °C and its genome is 1.80 Mbp long with a 30.5 mol% G + C content. Based on these results, we propose the creation of the new species Gemella massilienis sp. nov., strain Marseille-P3249 T (= CSUR P3249 = DSMZ 103940).

Domaines: Bactériologie; Virologie; Parasitologie; Cardiologie et système cardiovasculaire; Maladies émergentes; Maladies infectieuses

Maxime Descartes Mbogning Fonkou, Cheikh Ibrahima Lo, Zouina Mekhalif, Melhem Bilen, Enora Tomei, et al.. Gemella massiliensis sp. nov., a new bacterium isolated from the human sputum. Archives of Microbiology, 2021, 203 (9), pp.5817-5823. ⟨10.1007/s00203-021-02493-2⟩. ⟨hal-03421043⟩