Bacteroides reticulotermitis sp nov., isolated from the gut of a subterranean termite (Reticulitermes speratus)

An obligately anaerobic, non-pigmented, non-spore-forming, Gram-staining-negative, rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain Rs-03(T), was isolated from the gut of the subterranean termite Reticulitermes speratus. The taxonomic position of the novel strain was determined by following a polyphasic approach. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain Rs-03(T) was a member of the genus Bacteroides and was most closely related to Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron JCM 5827(T) (95.0% sequence similarity), Bacteroides faecis JCM 16478(T) (94.8%) and Bacteroides xylanisolvens JCM 15633(T) (94.3%). The results of hsp60 gene sequence analysis indicated that the novel strain was different from established members of the genus Bacteroides. Strain Rs-03(T) was saccharolytic and produced succinic and acetic acids, with small amounts of propionic acid, as metabolic end products. The major cellular fatty acids of strain Rs-03(T) were anteiso-C-15:0, C-18:1 omega 9c and iso-C-17:0 3-OH. The major menaquinones were MK-10 and MK-9 and the genomic DNA G+C content was 44.9 mol%. Based on these data, strain Rs-03(T) represents a novel species in the genus Bacteroides, for which the name Bacteroides reticulotermitis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is Rs-03(T) (=JCM 10512(T) =CCUG 62153(T)).