Subcommittee on the taxonomy of Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus and related organisms
Minutes of the meetings, 1 September 2014, Nantes, France
Session 1 – Open meeting
Minute 1. Call to order.
The open meeting was called to order as part of the FoodMicro 2014 symposium in Nantes, France at 13 : 30 on 1 September 2014, by Chairman F. Dellaglio.
Minute 2. Record of attendance.
The Subcommittee members present were B. Biavati, F. Dellaglio (Chairman), P. Mattarelli, B. Pot and K. Watanabe. Apologies for absence were received from J. Björkroth, C. Bonaparte, A. Endo, G. Felis, L. M. T. Dicks, C. Franz, W.-H. Holzapfel, G. Klein (Secretary) and G. Reuter. The guest present was Paul Lawson.
Minute 3. Call for research reports.
Research reports on topics related to the taxonomy of Lactobacillus and related organisms and bifidobacteria were presented within the workshop ‘Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium taxonomy: a navigator in bacterial diversity and applications’. The workshop took place with the support of the Society for Applied Microbiology (SfAM). The invited speaker, Paul Lawson, presented a key lecture entitled ‘Microbial Genomic Taxonomy: A Look to the Future’. Other presentations were: ‘Definition of minimal standards for the accurate taxonomic description and identification of species belonging to Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus and related genera’ (Paola Mattarelli, Italy); ‘Diversity of Lactobacillus delbrueckii and Bifidobacterium longum revealed by multilocus approaches and amplified fragment length polymorphism’ (Koichi Watanabe, Japan); ‘The European culture collections join the Microbial Resources Research Infrastructure (MIRRI) project: road map for improving access to the microbial resources’ (Raquel Hurtado-Ortiz, France). The attendance of the of the meeting was numerous. A brief discussion followed each presentation.
Minute 4. Adjournment.
The chairman thanked the presenters for their contributions. The open meeting was adjourned at 15 : 00 on 1 September 2014.
Session 2 – Closed meeting
Minute 5. Call to order.
Chairman F. Dellaglio called the closed meeting to order at 15 : 00 on 1 September 2014.
Minute 6. Record of attendance.
The Subcommittee members present were B. Biavati, F. Dellaglio (Chairman), P. Mattarelli, B. Pot and K. Watanabe. Apologies for absence were received from J. Björkroth, C. Bonaparte, A. Endo, G. Felis, L. M. T. Dicks, C. Franz, W.-H. Holzapfel, G. Klein (Secretary) and G. Reuter. The guest present was Paul Lawson.
Minute 7. Approval of the agenda.
The proposed agenda was approved.
Minute 8. Minutes of the previous meetings.
The minutes of the meetings of the Subcommittee in Istanbul, Turkey, on 4 September 2012 [Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 63 (2013),1574–1576] were approved.
Minute 9. Membership.
A candidate for membership of the Subcommittee, P. Lawson,was present. P. Lawson was proposed as a new member by F. Dellaglio and was seconded by P. Mattarelli. The Subcommittee accepted the candidate as a new member.
Minute 10. Scope of the Subcommittee.
The status quo of genera within the purview of the Subcommittee is as follows: Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, Carnobacterium, Leuconostoc, Fructobacillus, Pediococcus, Tetragenococcus, Isobaculum, Jeotgalibaca, Lactosphaera, Desemzia, Weissella, Oenococcus, Sharpea, Vagococcus, Catellicoccus, Gardnerella, Paralactobacillus, Alloscardovia, Metascardovia, Scardovia, Aeriscardovia, Pseudoscardovia, Bombiscardovia and Parascardovia.
Minute 11. Call for old business.
Regarding issues within the high similarity of Bifidobacterium indicum–Bifidobacterium coryneforme, K. Watanabe, B. Biavati and P. Mattarelli performed the following new analysis: DNA–DNA hybridization, 16S rRNA and HSP60 gene analysis, amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC)-PCR, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) HSP60 analysis. The results indicate that DNA–DNA hybridization values range from 63 % to 68 % while the value for 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity is 98.65 %. These values are borderline for species discrimination, but the other analyses show values or profiles differentiating the two species. Based on the results, members agreed to proceed with the writing of a note in order to clarify the taxonomic position of these two species, maintaining Bifidobacterium indicum and Bifidobacterium coryneforme as separate species. K. Watanabe, B. Biavati and P. Mattarelli will draft such a note.
Minute 12. Minimal standards.
In April 2014, minimal standards containing the guidelines to describe new taxa belonging to Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus and related genera were published [Mattarelli et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 64 (2014) 1434–1451].
Minute 13. Call for new business.
The Internet website of the Subcommittee has been created within the website of ICSP. At the time of writing these minutes, the information present are the history of the Subcommittee and the minutes of all past meetings of the Subcommittee. The inclsusion of information about ‘taxa covered’ by the Subcommittee was proposed. B. Pot suggested that members can contribute to updating the site by asking the secretary (depository of key access) to insert new information.
Minute 14. Review of novel species and subspecies.
The reporting period is from March 2013 to December 2014. The following novel species and subspecies were acknowledged by the Subcommittee (as from March 2013 to December 2014): Bifidobacterium crudilactis sp. nov. [Validation list no. 153, Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 63 (2013), 3131–3134; Delcenserie et al., Syst Appl Microbiol 30 (2007), 381–389]; Lactobacillus apinorum sp. nov. [Olofsson et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 64 (2014), 3109–3119]; Lactobacillus mellifer sp. nov. [Olofsson et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 64 (2014), 3109–3119]; Lactobacillus mellis sp. nov. [Olofsson et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 64 (2014), 3109–3119]; Lactobacillus melliventris sp. nov. [Olofsson et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 64 (2014), 3109–3119]; Lactobacillus kimbladii sp. nov. [Olofsson et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 64 (2014), 3109–3119]; Lactobacillus helsingborgensis sp. nov. [Olofsson et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 64 (2014), 3109–3119]; Lactobacillus kullabergensis sp. nov. [Olofsson et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 64 (2014), 3109–3119]; Lactobacillus sicerae sp. nov. [Puertas et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 64 (2014), 2949–2955]; Lactobacillus furfuricola sp. nov. [Irisawa et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 64 (2014), 2902–2906]; Lactobacillus bombi sp. nov. [Killer et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 64 (2014), 2611–2617]; Lactobacillus rodentium sp. nov. [Killer et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 64 (2014), 1526–1533]; Lactobacillus apis sp. nov. [Killer et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 64 (2014), 152–157]; Lactobacillus mudanjiangensis sp. nov. [Gu et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 63 (2013), 4698–4706]; Lactobacillus songhuajiangensis sp. nov. [Gu et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 63 (2013), 4698–4706]; Lactobacillus nenjiangensis sp. nov. [Gu et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 63 (2013), 4698–4706]; Lactobacillus silagei sp. nov. [Tohno et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 63 (2013), 4613–4618]; Lactobacillus faecis sp. nov. [Endo et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 63 (2013), 4502–4507]; Lactobacillus heilongjiangensis sp. nov. [Gu et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 63 (2013), 4094–4099]; Lactobacillus iwatensis sp. nov. [Tohno et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 63 (2013), 3854–3860]; Lactobacillus backii sp. nov. [Tohno et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 63 (2013), 3854–3860]; Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. jakobsenii subsp. nov. [Adimpong et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 63 (2013), 3720–3726]; Lactobacillus yonginensis sp. nov. [Yi et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 63 (2013), 3274–3279]; Lactobacillus oryzae sp. nov. [Tohno et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 63 (2013), 2957–2962]; Lactobacillus hokkaidonensis sp. nov. [Tohno et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 63 (2013), 2526–2531]; Lactobacillus shenzhenensis sp. nov. [Zou et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 63 (2013), 1817–1823]; Lactobacillus curieae sp. nov. [Lei et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 63 (2013), 2501–0505]; Lactobacillus porcinae sp. nov. [Nguyen et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 63 (2013), 1754–1759]; Lactobacillus kimchiensis sp. nov. [Kim et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 63 (2013), 1355–1359]; Lactobacillus gorillae sp. nov. [Tsushida and Kitahara; Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 64 (2014);, 4001-4006]; Weissella fabalis sp. nov. [Snauwaert et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 63 (2013), 1709–1716]; Weissella diestrammenae sp. nov. [Oh et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 63 (2013), 2951–2956]; Weissella uvarum sp. nov. [Nisiotou et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 64 (2014), 3885–3890]; Fructobacillus tropaeoli sp. nov. [Snauwaert et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 63 (2013), 1709–1716]; Leuconostoc gelidum subsp. aenigmaticum subsp. nov. [Rahkila et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 64 (2014), 1290–1295]; Leuconostoc gelidum subsp. gelidum subsp. nov. [Rahkila et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 64 (2014), 1290–1295]; Aerococcus vaginalis sp. nov. [Tohno et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 64 (2014), 1229–1236]; Vagococcus entomophilus sp. nov. [Killer et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 64 (2014), 731–737]; Bifidobacterium faecale sp. nov. [Choi et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 64 (2014), 3134–3139]; Bifidobacterium aesculapii sp. nov. [Modesto et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 64 (2014), 2819–2827]; Bifidobacterium moukalabense sp. nov. [Tsuchida et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 64 (2014), 449–455]; Alloscardovia macacae sp. nov. [Killer et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 63 (2013), 4439–4446]; Bifidobacterium stercoris has been reclassified as a later heterotypic synonym of Bifidobacterium adolescentis [Killer et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 63 (2013), 4350–4353]; Metascardovia criceti has been reclassified as Alloscardovia criceti comb. nov. [Killer et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 63 (2013), 4439–4446]; Pseudoscardovia radai, sp. nov. [Killer et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 64 (2014), 2932–2938]; Leuconostoc gasicomitatum has been reclassified as Leuconostoc gelidum subsp. gasicomitatum comb. nov. [Rahkila et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 64 (2014), 1290–1295].
Minute 15. Review of novel orders, families and genera.
The following new genera were acknowledged by the Subcommittee: Bombiscardovia coagulans gen. nov., sp. nov., a member of the family Bifidobacteriaceae [Validation list no. 159, Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 64 (2014), 2927–2929; Killer et al., Syst Appl Microbiol 36 (2013), 11–16]; Pseudoscardovia suis gen. nov., sp. nov., a member of the family Bifidobacteriaceae [Validation list no. 159, Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 64 (2014), 2927–2929; Killer et al., Syst Appl Microbiol 36 (2013), 11–16]; Jeotgalibaca dankookensis gen. nov., sp. nov., a member of the family Carnobacteriaceae [Lee et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 64 (2014), 1729–1735].
Minute 16. Present membership.
The following individuals are members of the Subcommittee on Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus and related organisms: Bruno Biavati (Deputy Chairman), Bologna, Italy; Johanna Björkroth, Helsinki, Finland; Christine Bonaparte, Hannover, Germany; Franco Dellaglio (Chairman), Verona, Italy; Leon M.T. Dicks (Deputy Chairman), Stellenbosch, South Africa; Akihido Endo, Turku, Finland; Giovanna Felis, Verona, Italy; Charles M. A. P. Franz, Karlsruhe, Germany; Wilhelm H. Holzapfel, Karlsruhe, Germany; Günter Klein (Secretary), Hannover, Germany; Paul Lawson, Oklahoma, USA; Paola Mattarelli, Bologna, Italy; Bruno Pot, Gent, Belgium; Gerhard Reuter, Berlin, Germany; Marc Vancanneyt, Gent, Belgium; and Koichi Watanabe, Tokio, Japan.
Minute 17. Date and place of the next meeting.
The next meeting of the Subcommittee will preferably be during FoodMicro 2016 in Dublin, Ireland. If possible the meetings should be scheduled for the first day of this symposium.
Minute 18. Adjournment.
The closed meeting was adjourned at 16 : 30 on 1 September 2014.