Designation of the provisional new enterococcus species CDC PNS-E2 as Enterococcus sanguinicola sp. nov., isolated from human blood, and identification of a strain previously named Enterococcus CDC PNS-E1 as Enterococcus italicus Fortina, Ricci, Mora, and Manachini 2004.

We have previously characterized two new enterococcal species (provisionally designated CDC PNS-E1 and CDC PNS-E2) recovered from clinically significant specimens associated with invasive infections in humans. In the present report we provide additional data and propose formal denominations for isolates of these two species of Enterococcus. Results of 16S rRNA gene sequencing, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic analysis of whole-cell protein profiles, and DNA-DNA reassociation experiments indicated that the blood isolate ATCC BAA-780 (SS 1728; CDC PNS-E1) corresponds to Enterococcus italicus, whose species epithet was proposed to designate isolates from artisanal Italian cheese. Strain ATCC BAA-781 (CCUG 47861; SS 1729; CDC PNS-E2), a vancomycin-resistant isolate recovered from the blood of a patient in the United States, was found to be highly related at the species level to another blood isolate (SS 1743; CCUG 47884) from Sweden, and for these we propose the designation Enterococcus sanguinicola sp. nov.