Abstract
A novel strain of the genus Holzapfeliella, named He02(T), was isolated from flowers of Satureja montana L. in a survey for lactic acid bacteria associated with wild and cultivated plants in the metropolitan area of Valencia, Spain. Partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed a similarity of 99% to Holzapfeliella floricola DSM 23037(T)=Ryu1-2(T). Strain He02(T) cells are Gram-stain-positive, catalase-negative non-motile rods, usually occurring in pairs. Cells show a pale yellow pigmentation when pelleted. As H. floricola, strain He02(T) utilized a narrow range of carbohydrates, namely, glucose and fructose, homofermentatively. However, genome sequencing and estimation of average nucleotide identity (ANI) revealed an ANI value of 87.44 with H. floricola DSM 23037(T), the only H. floricola strain sequenced to date. A value of 30.5% for digital DNA-DNA hybridization was estimated with the Type Strain Genome Server tool when He02(T) was compared with strain DSM 23037(T). These results indicate that strain He02(T) constitutes a novel species, for which the name Holzapfeliella saturejae sp. nov. with He02(T) (=CECT 31001(T)=DSM 117324(T)=CCM 9395(T)) as type strain is proposed.