Lactobacillus garii sp. nov., isolated from a fermented cassava product

A novel Gram-positive, catalase negative, rod-shaped strain, FI11369^T, was isolated from gari, a traditional West African fermented food derived from cassava. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, the closest type strains were Lactobacillus xiangfangensis LMG 26013^T (99.4 % similarity), Lactobacillus plajomi NBRC 107333^T (99.1 %), Lactobacillus paraplantarum DSM 10667^T (99.1 %), Lactobacillus pentosus DSM 20314^T (99.0 %), Lactobacillus plantarum subsp. plantarum ATCC 14917^T (99.0 %), Lactobacillus modestisalitolerans NBRC 107235^T (98.9 %), Lactobacillus plantarum subsp. argentoratensis DSM 16365^T (98.9 %) and Lactobacillus daowaiensis NCIMB 15183^T (98.8 %). The genome of strain FI11369^T was sequenced and the average nucleotide identity (ANI) was compared with its closest relatives. ANI analysis showed that the closest relative, L. xiangfangensis DSM 27103^T, had only a 82.4 % similarity. The main fatty acids of FI11369^T were saturated C_16 : 0 (18.2 %), unsaturated C_18 : 1  ω9c (43.8 %) and cyclopropane C_19 : 0 cyclo (ω10c and/or ω6; 22.5 %). Based on the genotypic and phenotypic data obtained in this study, a novel Lactobacillus species, Lactobacillus garii sp. nov., with the type strain FI11369^T (=NCIMB 15148=DSM 108249), is proposed.