Leucobacter muris sp. nov., isolated from the nose of a laboratory mouse

A Gram-stain-positive, rod-shaped, aerobic, non-motile, white, opaque bacterial isolate, designated 924/12^T, was isolated from the nose of a laboratory mouse in Düsseldorf, Germany. The 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses indicated the phylogenetic position of the strain within the genus Leucobacter. Similarity levels over 97 % were recorded between the 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain 924/12^T and the type strains of the species Leucobacter chironomi DSM 19883^T (99.5 %), followed by Leucobacter celersubsp. astrifaciens CBX151^T (97.6 %), Leucobacter celersubsp. celer NAL101^T (97.5 %), 'Leucobacter kyeonggiensis' F3-P9 (97.5 %), Leucobacter zeae CC-MF41^T (97.3 %), Leucobacter chromiiresistens JG31^T (97.1 %), Leucobacter triazinivorans JW-1^T (97.1 %), Leucobacter corticis 2 C-7^T (97.0 %) and Leucobacter aridicolis CIP108388^T (97.0 %). DNA-DNA hybridization and whole genomic comparison, mandatory to taxonomically separate strain 924/12^T from the type strain of L. chironomi, revealed similarity values of 40.4 and 30.8 %, respectively, thus below the threshold of 70 % recommended differentiating between species. The cell-wall amino acids of the novel isolate were diaminobutyric acid, alanine, glycine, threonine and glutamic acid. The major fatty acids were anteiso-C15 : 0, anteiso-C17 : 0 and iso-C16 : 0. The major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, glycolipid and one unknown lipid, whereas the predominant menaquinones were MK-11 and MK-10. The genomic DNA G+C content of strain 924/12^T was 70.6 mol%. Phylogenetic analyses based on the 16S rRNA gene sequences and the phenotypical differences between strain 924/12^T and the other closely related type strains of the genus Leucobacter indicated that strain 924/12^T represents a novel species within the genus Leucobacter, family Microbacteriaceae, for which the name Leucobacter muris sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 924/12^T (=DSM 101948^T=CCM 8761^T).