Luteolibacter cuticulihirudinis sp. nov., isolated from Hirudo medicinalis

A Gram-negative, coccoid shaped bacterium isolated from the outer surface of the medicinal leech Hirudo medicinalis was characterized. The 16S rRNA gene sequence comparison revealed that the bacterium was closely related to species of the genus Luteolibacter. Luteolibacter pohnpeiensis was the most closely related species (94.6 % sequence similarity), followed by Luteolibacter luojiensis (93.4 %) and Luteolibacter algae (93.3 %). Chemotaxonomic data (major ubiquinone: MK-9; major polar lipids: phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol; and major fatty acids: iso-C(14:0), C(16:0), iso-C(16:1), and anteiso-C(15:0)) supported the affiliation of the isolate to the genus Luteolibacter. DNA-DNA hybridizations with the type strain of L. pohnpeiensis was 31 % (reciprocal value 30 %). A phenotypic differentiation of strain E100(T) from L. pohnpeiensis and the other Luteolibacter species was possible by several physiological tests. We conclude Strain E100(T) represents a novel species, for which we propose the name Luteolibacter cuticulihirudinis sp. nov. with the type strain E100(T) (=CCM 8400(T) = LMG 26924(T)).