Apibacter Raozihei Sp. Nov. Isolated From Bat Feces Of Hipposideros And Taphozous Spp.

Strains HY041(T) and HY039 were oxidase- and Gram-stain-negative, catalase-positive, rod-shaped, non-motile, and facultatively anaerobic bacteria. They were isolated from the feces of bats of the Hipposideros and Taphozous spp. collected from Chongqing City and Guangxi province (PR China), respectively. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene and 463 core genes indicated that HY041(T) and HY039 represent members of the genus Apibacter, forming a clade with Apibacter adventoris wkB301(T) (95.2% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity) and Apibacter mensalis R-53146(T) (94.0%). In silico DNA-DNA hybridization (isDDH) and average nucleotide identity (ANI) values of our isolates with the most closely related species were lower than the 70% and 95-96% threshold, respectively, in contrast to values above these two thresholds (isDDH value: 89.1%; ANI value: 98.5%) between strains HY041(T) and HY039. The novel isolates could grow on nutrient and MacConkey agar. HY041(T) and HY039 could produce beta-galactosidase and N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase, and utilize d-adonitol, d-mannose, gentiobiose, glucose and salicin. The major fatty acids (>10.0 %) of HY041(T) were iso-C-17:0 3OH, iso-C-15:0, C-16:0, summed feature 9 (C-16 :0 10-methyl and/or iso-C-17:1 omega 9c) and C-16:0 3OH. Polar lipids included phosphatidylethanolamine, glycolipid, two unidentified aminolipids and four unidentified lipids. Menaquinone 6 (MK-6) was the sole respiratory quinone. On the basis of all analyses so far, strains HY041(T) and HY039 represent a novel species of the genus Apibacter, for which the name Apibacter raozihei sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is HY041(T) (=CGMCC 1.16567(T)=JCM 33423(T)) with a genomic DNA G+C content of 32.2 mol%.