Fresh samples of intestinal contents of three wild pigs originating from the Central Bohemia region were examined for the presence of bifidobacterial strains. During the study, we isolated many fructose-6-phosphate phosphoketolase-positive, strictly anaerobic, irregular rod-shaped bacterial isolates. Three of them were preliminarily identified as representing a novel species of the genus Bifidobacterium because their 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with the closest relatives of thermophilic bifidobacteria (Bifidobacterium boum DSM 20432T, Bifidobacterium thermophilum DSM 20210T, Bifidobacterium thermacidophilumsubsp. porcinum LMG 21689T, Bifidobacterium thermacidophilumsubsp. thermacidophilum DSM 15837T) was in the range of 97.9 - 98.4 %. All three bacterial isolates had identical 16S rRNA, dnaJ1, fusA, gyrB and rplB gene sequences. Isolate RP115T was chosen as a representative of the bacterial group and DNA G+C content (mol%) determination, biochemical tests and analyses of physiological and morphological characteristics, habitat and chemotaxonomic traits (peptidoglycan structure, cellular fatty acids and polar lipids profile) were performed. The DNA-DNA hybridization analyses of RP115T and species representing the group of thermophilic bifidobacteria revealed values in the range from 33 to 53 %. This fact, together with relatively low sequence similarities of particular phylogenetic markers among examined bacterial strains and the phenotyping and chemotaxonomy results obtained, indicated that the evaluated bacterial isolate should be classified as representing a separate taxon within the specific group of thermophilic bifidobacteria. The name Bifidobacterium apri (of boar) sp. nov. has been proposed for the representative strain RP115T (=CCM 8605T=DSM 100238T=LMG 28779T).

Czech Collection of Microorganisms Masaryk University Faculty of Science Kamenice 5 building A25 625 00 Brno Czech Republic

Department of Biology Faculty of Science J E Purkyně University in Ústi nad Labem Za Válcovnou 1000 8 400 96 Ústí nad Labem Czech Republic

Department of Microbiology Nutrition and Dietetics Czech University of Life Sciences Faculty of Agrobiology Food and Natural Resources Kamýcká 129 Prague 6 Suchdol 165 21 Czech Republic

Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics v v i Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Vídeňská 1083 Prague 4 Krč 142 20 Czech Republic

Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences v v i Vídeňská 1083 142 20 Prague 4 Czech Republic

References provided by Crossref.org

Probiotic bacteria of wild boar origin intended for piglets - An in vitro study

Defined Pig Microbiota Mixture as Promising Strategy against Salmonellosis in Gnotobiotic Piglets

Colonization of Germ-Free Piglets with Mucinolytic and Non-Mucinolytic Bifidobacterium boum Strains Isolated from the Intestine of Wild Boar and Their Interference with Salmonella Typhimurium

Decoding the Genomic Variability among Members of the Bifidobacterium dentium Species

Glutamine synthetase type I (glnAI) represents a rewarding molecular marker in the classification of bifidobacteria and related genera

Multidisciplinary involvement and potential of thermophiles

The threonine-tRNA ligase gene region is applicable in classification, typing, and phylogenetic analysis of bifidobacteria

Gene encoding the CTP synthetase as an appropriate molecular tool for identification and phylogenetic study of the family Bifidobacteriaceae

Characterization of a xylanolytic bacterial strain C10 isolated from the rumen of a red deer (Cervus elaphus) closely related of the recently described species Actinomyces succiniciruminis, A. glycerinitolerans, and A. ruminicola