International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes; Subcommittee on the taxonomy of Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus and related organisms: Minutes of the meetings, 1 and 2 April 2005, Stuttgart-Hohenheim, Germany

Summary auto-generated

This document records the minutes from meetings of the International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes Subcommittee on the taxonomy of Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus and related organisms, held April 1-2, 2005 in Stuttgart-Hohenheim, Germany. The subcommittee reviewed taxonomic developments in lactic acid bacteria and related genera. Key activities included presentations on new species descriptions in Lactobacillus, Carnobacterium, Leuconostoc, and Bifidobacterium identification methods. The subcommittee accepted three new members and reviewed membership changes. Significant taxonomic issues discussed included reclassification of Bifidobacterium infantis and B. suis as subspecies of B. longum, clarification of B. lactis as a subspecies of B. animalis, and concerns about type strain validity in certain Bifidobacterium groups. The subcommittee established working groups to develop minimal standards for describing novel species within various genera. Multiple new species and subspecies descriptions were acknowledged, along with reclassifications and taxonomic revisions. The subcommittee's scope was expanded to include newly described genera including Isobaculum, Aeriscardovia, Lactosphaera, and Desemzia.

Key findings

The subcommittee acknowledged approximately 30 new Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Carnobacterium, and Leuconostoc species and subspecies described between 2002-2005.
Minimal standards for describing novel species were established, requiring 16S rRNA sequence data, DNA-DNA hybridization, G+C content, and chemotaxonomic characterization.
Taxonomic revisions included reclassifying B. infantis and B. suis as subspecies of B. longum, and reclassifying B. lactis as B. animalis subsp. lactis.
The subcommittee's scope was expanded from 13 to 17 genera to accommodate newly described taxa including Isobaculum, Aeriscardovia, Lactosphaera, and Desemzia.
Working groups were established for eight genus clusters to develop genus-specific minimal standards for species descriptions.

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Abstract

Minute 10. International Committee.
It was noted by the Chairman and the Secretary that the affiliation of the Subcommittee had changed from the International Committee on Systematic Bacteriology (ICSB) to the International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes (ICSP) due to the renaming of the ICSB and the broadening of its scope.

Minute 11. Scope of the Subcommittee.
The status quo of genera within the scope of the subcommittee is as follows: Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, Aerococcus, Carnobacterium, Leuconostoc, Pediococcus, Tetragenococcus, Weissella, Oenococcus, Vagococcus, Gardnerella, Paralactobacillus, Scardovia and Parascardovia. Several new genera have been described which should be in the scope of the subcommittee according to their taxonomic position. The subcommittee proposed to include the new genera Isobaculum, Aeriscardovia, Lactosphaera and Desemzia in the scope of the subcommittee, whereas for the genera Olsenella and Melissococcus, it was concluded that they fall into the scope of the Subcommittee on the taxonomy of staphylococci and streptococci.

Minute 12. Call for old business.
The problem of differentiation of the species Bifidobacterium longum/Bifidobacterium infantis/Bifidobacterium suis was discussed. B. Biavati pointed out that B. infantis and B. suis belong to the species B. longum and consequently three new subspecies of B. longum should be proposed. B. Biavati agreed to elaborate a Request for an Opinion concerning this problem. The subcommittee disagreed with the paper of Sakata et al. [Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 52 (2002), 19451951] and the unification of B. infantis and B. suis as B. longum and the establishment of only biotypes of the latter. The subcommittee noted again the problems with the type strains within the Bifidobacterium indicum/Bifidobacterium coryneforme/Bifidobacterium asteroides group. B. Biavati agreed to collect the type strains from different culture collections and to compare them and apply DNA fingerprinting. B. Biavati, B. Pot, C. Bonaparte and G. Klein agreed to reinvestigate the type strains and to report back to the subcommittee. In the meantime, Bifidobacterium lactis has been reclassified as a subspecies of Bifidobacterium animalis and consequently two new subspecies have been established: Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. animalis and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis. The origin of the type strain of the former species B. lactis remains unclear (isolation from yoghurt or re-isolation). B. Biavati will perform further investigations. Since the last meeting of the subcommittee no decision has been taken by the Judicial Commission concerning the rejection of Lactobacillus paracasei, the designation of strain ATCC 334 as the neotype of Lactobacillus casei and the reclassification of the current type strain of Lactobacillus casei ATCC 393^T. The decision was postponed to the next meeting of the Judicial Commission in July 2005 in San Francisco. The whole subcommittee strongly supports the rejection of strain ATCC 393^T as the type strain of L. casei. F. Dellaglio, A. Callaway, B. Pot, M. Vancanneyt, L. M. T. Dicks and G. Klein agreed to prepare a Request for an Opinion. No new information was available concerning the separate species status of Lactobacillus animalis and Lactobacillus murinus. M. Vancanneyt agreed to undertake DNADNA hybridization studies.

Minute 13. Adjournment.
The first session of the closed meeting of the Subcommittee on the Taxonomy of Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus and Related Organisms was adjourned by the Chairman at 18 : 00 on 1 April 2005.