Lactobacillus composti sp. nov., a lactic acid bacterium isolated from a compost of distilled shochu residue.

Two strains of lactic acid bacteria, strains NRIC 0689(T) and NRIC 0690, were isolated from a compost of distilled shochu residue in Japan. The isolates showed quite low sequence similarity to known species of lactic acid bacteria on the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence; the highest sequence similarities to NRIC 0689(T) were shown by the type strains of Lactobacillus satsumensis, L. plantarum, L. hilgardii, L. buchneri and L. parabuchneri (92.9, 92.9, 92.8, 92.6 and 92.5 %, respectively). The isolates formed a distinct subcluster in the Lactobacillus casei-Pediococcus phylogenetic cluster. Levels of DNA-DNA relatedness revealed that the isolates belonged to the same taxon. Therefore, the isolates represent a novel species, for which the name Lactobacillus composti sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is NRIC 0689(T) (=JCM 14202(T)=DSM 18527(T)).