Bosea eneae sp. nov., Bosea massiliensis sp. nov. and Bosea vestrisii sp. nov., isolated from hospital water supplies, and emendation of the genus Bosea (Das et al. 1996).

On the basis of phenotypic and DNA relatedness data, three novel species of the genus Bosea are proposed, Bosea massiliensis (63287T =CIP 106336T =CCUG 43117T), Bosea vestrisii (34635T =CIP 106340T =CCUG 43114T) and Bosea eneae (34614T =CIP 106338T =CCUG 43111T). The original description of the genus Bosea included thiosulphate oxidation as a phenotypic feature, when the sole and type species of the genus, Bosea thiooxidans, was proposed. The three novel species described herein were not able to oxidize thiosulphate; thus, it is proposed that this characteristic be removed from the description of the genus and considered as specific for B. thiooxidans. The novel species of the genus Bosea proposed here form a well-separated cluster in the Bradyrhizobium group of the alpha-2 subclass of the Proteobacteria, on the basis of 16S rDNA gene sequence analysis. However, 16S rDNA gene sequence analysis was not sufficient to delineate the species; hence, DNA-DNA relatedness and phenotypic data were also required. All of the novel species described in this study are fastidious bacteria isolated from a hospital water supply, using co-cultivation with amoebae. This group of bacteria are hypothesized to be a potential cause of nosocomial infections. For treatment of infections caused by these novel bacteria, doxycycline appears to be the sole antibacterial compound with a consistently low MIC value.