Stomatobaculum longum gen. nov., sp. nov., an obligately anaerobic bacterium from the human oral cavity.

A strictly anaerobic Gram-stain-variable but positive by structure, non-spore-forming bacterium designated Lachnospiraceae bacterium ACC2 strain DSM 24645(T) was isolated from human subgingival dental plaque. Bacterial cells were 4-40 µm long non-motile rods, often swollen and forming curved filaments up to 200 µm. Cells contained intracellular, poorly crystalline, nanometre-sized iron- and sulfur-rich particles. The micro-organism was able to grow on yeast extract, trypticase peptone, milk, some sugars and organic acids. The major metabolic end-products of glucose fermentation were butyrate, lactate, isovalerate and acetate. The growth temperature and pH ranges were 30-42 °C and 4.9-7.5, respectively. Major fatty acids were C14 : 0, C14 : 0 DMA (dimethyl aldehyde), C16 : 0, C16 : 1ω7c DMA. The whole-cell hydrolysate contained meso-diaminopimelic acid, indicating peptidoglycan type A1γ. The DNA G+C content was calculated to be 55.05 mol% from the whole-genome sequence and 55.3 mol% as determined by HPLC. There were no predicted genes responsible for biosynthesis of respiratory lipoquinones, mycolic acids and lipopolysaccharides. Genes associated with synthesis of teichoic and lipoteichoic acids, diaminopimelic acid, polar lipids and polyamines were present. According to the 16S rRNA gene sequence phylogeny, strain DSM 24645(T) formed, together with several uncultured oral clones, a separate branch within the family Lachnospiraceae, with the highest sequence similarity to the type strain of Moryella indoligenes at 94.2 %. Based on distinct phenotypic and genotypic characteristics, we suggest that strain DSM 24645(T) represents a novel species in a new genus, for which the name Stomatobaculum longum gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Stomatobaculum longum is DSM 24645(T) ( = HM-480(T); deposited in BEI Resources, an NIH collection managed by the ATCC).