Abstract
Two novel Pediococcus strains, Z-9T and Z-17, were isolated from a distilled-spirit-fermenting cellar in Hebei Province, China. The cells were Gram-positive, non-spore-forming, non-motile cocci and occurred in pairs or tetrads. The strains were facultatively anaerobic and produced only lactic acid [D() and L(+) isomers in the ratio 50 : 50] from glucose fermentation. Catalase activity was not present. Both strains were able to grow in 6.5 % ethanol and at pH 3.5, but not in 4 % NaCl. The mean genomic G+C content of the two strains was 39.5±0.5 mol% (39 mol% for the type strain, Z-9T). The levels of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity between the two novel strains and related species of the genus Pediococcus ranged from 98.3 to 98.7 %. The levels of DNADNA relatedness between strain Z-9T and the phylogenetically closely related pediococci Pediococcus damnosus LMG 11484T, Pediococcus inopinatus LMG 11409T, Pediococcus parvulus LMG 11486T and Pediococcus cellicola LMG 22956T were 14.6, 33, 28.7 and 16.8 %, respectively. On the basis of phenotypic, genotypic and phylogenetic analyses, a novel species, Pediococcus ethanolidurans sp. nov., is proposed, with strain Z-9T (=AS 1.3889T=LMG 23354T) as the type strain.