Two coryneform bacteria isolated from the surface of French Gruyère and Beaufort cheeses are new species of the genus Brachybacterium: Brachybacterium alimentarium sp. nov. and Brachybacterium tyrofermentans sp. nov.

New species names, Brachybacterium alimentarium and Brachybacterium tyrofermentans, are proposed for two coryneform bacteria isolated from the surfaces of Gruyère and Beaufort cheeses. These two species are similar in their biochemical and chemotaxonomic characteristics but distinct from previously described bacteria. The most distinctive characteristics are the presence of meso-diaminopimelic acid-containing peptidoglycan with a D-Glu-D-Asp interpeptide bridge and the presence of erythritol teichoic acids that contain diaminoglucuronic acid (an uncommon substituent). The menaquinone pattern of these organisms is unique among coryneform bacteria. DNA-DNA hybridization experiments revealed that the level of hybridization between the two organisms is 15%, which indicates that they are distinct species. Despite the unique biochemical characteristics of these bacteria, a 16S rRNA sequence comparison revealed that they are unquestionably related to Brachybacterium faecium, Brachybacterium nesterenkovii, and Brachybacterium conglomeratum. DNA-DNA hybridization experiments performed with these three species, B. alimentarium, and B. tyrofermentans revealed that the levels of complementarity ranged from 11 to 38%, values that are similar to the values obtained for Brachybacterium strains described previously. With the inclusion of B. alimentarium and B. tyrofermentans the genus Brachybacterium becomes somewhat heterogeneous with respect to chemotaxonomic characteristics.