We aimed to define the taxonomic status of 16 strains which were phenetically congruent with Acinetobacter DNA group 15 described by Tjernberg & Ursing in 1989. The strains were isolated from a variety of human and animal specimens in geographically distant places over the last three decades. Taxonomic analysis was based on an Acinetobacter-targeted, genus-wide approach that included the comparative sequence analysis of housekeeping, protein-coding genes, whole-cell profiling based on matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), an array of in-house physiological and metabolic tests, and whole-genome comparative analysis. Based on analyses of the rpoB and gyrB genes, the 16 strains formed respective, strongly supported clusters clearly separated from the other species of the genus Acinetobacter. The distinctness of the group at the species level was indicated by average nucleotide identity values of ≤82 % between the whole genome sequences of two of the 16 strains (NIPH 2171(T) and NIPH 899) and those of the known species. In addition, the coherence of the group was also supported by MALDI-TOF MS. All 16 strains were non-haemolytic and non-gelatinase-producing, grown at 41 °C and utilized a rather limited number of carbon sources. Virtually every strain displayed a unique combination of metabolic and physiological features. We conclude that the 16 strains represent a distinct species of the genus Acinetobacter, for which the name Acinetobacter variabilis sp. nov. is proposed to reflect its marked phenotypic heterogeneity. The type strain is NIPH 2171(T) ( = CIP 110486(T) = CCUG 26390(T) = CCM 8555(T)).

Laboratory of Bacterial Genetics National Institute of Public Health Šrobárova 48 100 42 Prague Czech Republic

Medical and Molecular Microbiology Unit Department of Medicine Faculty of Science University of Fribourg Rue Albert Gockel 3 CH 1700 Fribourg Switzerland

Research Group Proteomics Central European Institute of Technology and National Centre for Biomolecular Research Faculty of Science Masaryk University Kamenice 5 625 00 Brno Czech Republic

Wadsworth Center Bacteriology Laboratory New York State Dept of Health Albany NY 12201 2002 USA

Int J Syst Evol Microbiol. 2015 Apr;65(Pt 4):1395. doi: 10.1099/ijs.0.000208. PubMed

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BioProject
PRJNA183623

GENBANK
KM821015, KM821016, KM821017, KM821018, KM821019, KM821020, KM821021, KM821022, KM821023, KM821024, KM821025, KM821026, KM821027, KM821028, KM821029, KM821030, KM821031, KM821032, KM821033, KM821034, KM821035, KM821036, KM821037, KM821038, KM821039, KM821040, KM821041, KM821042, KM821043, KM821044, KM821045, KM821046, KP278590