Lactobacillus harbinensis sp. nov., consisted of strains isolated from traditional fermented vegetables 'Suan cai' in Harbin, Northeastern China and Lactobacillus perolens DSM 12745.

Taxonomical analysis of two genetically distinguished Lactobacillus strains isolated from traditional Chinese fermented vegetables 'Suan cai' was performed. They formed L-lactate from glucose, were facultatively heterofermentative, and had a DNA G+C content of 53-54mol%. They fermented D- and L-arabinose. They produced lactate, ethanol and acetate from gluconate at a molar ratio of 1.1:0.4:0.7. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rDNA revealed that the two strains were closely related to L. perolens. DNA-DNA hybridization analysis revealed that the two strains were different from L. perolens type strain DSM 12744 and formed a separate cluster with L. perolens DSM 12745. G + C molar content of DNA of the former is 51%, whereas those of the latter strains were in the range of 53-54%. Based on the results, we propose that the new species be named L. harbinensis sp. nov. and that L. perolens DSM 12745 be reclassified as L. harbinensis DSM 12745. The type strain of L. harbinensis DSM 16991T (= AHU 1762T = SBT 10908T).