Massilia oculi sp. nov., isolated from a human clinical specimen

A gram-negative, rod-shaped, non-spore-forming bacterium (strain CCUG 43427A(T)) was isolated from a patient suffering from endophthalmitis and its taxonomic position was studied. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that this strain was a member of the genus Massilia. Strain CCUG 43427A(T) was most closely related to the type strains of Massilia timonae (97.4 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity) and Massilia aurea (97.2 %); levels of similarity to the type strains of all other recognized Massilia species were below 97.0 %. Chemotaxonomic data [Q-8 as major ubiquinone; phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and diphosphatidylglycerol as major polar lipids; and summed feature 3 (C(16 : 1)ω7c and/or iso-C(15 : 0) 2-OH), C(16 : 0), C(18 : 1)ω7c, C(12 : 0) and C(10 : 0) 3-OH as major fatty acids] supported the affiliation of the isolate to the genus Massilia. Levels of DNA-DNA relatedness of strain CCUG 43427A(T) with M. timonae CCUG 45783(T) and M. aurea AP13(T) were 60.6 % (reciprocal, 55.8 %) and 58.1 % (reciprocal, 34.0 %), respectively. Strain CCUG 43427A(T) could be differentiated from its closest phylogenetic neighbours based on a range of phenotypic characteristics. Strain CCUG 43427A(T) is therefore considered to represent a novel species of the genus Massilia, for which the name Massilia oculi sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CCUG 43427A(T) ( = CCM 7900(T)).