Bifidobacterium apicola sp. nov., isolated from the gut of honeybee (Apis mellifera)

Two novel bifidobacteria (designated F806-1^T and F814-1.1) isolated from the gut of honeybee (<i>Apis mellifera</i>) were characterized in the present study. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that strains F806-1^T and F814-1.1 belonged to the <i>Bifidobacterium asteroides</i> group and were most closely related to <i>Bifidobacterium apousia</i> W8102^T and <i>Bifidobacterium polysaccharolyticum</i> W8117^T, having 98.9-99.4% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities. Strains F806-1^T and F814-1.1 had the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities (99.1 and 99.4 %) with <i>B. polysaccharolyticum</i> W8117^T. Strains F806-1^T and F814-1.1 had 73.2-90.5% average nucleotide identity, 21.5-40.8% digital DNA-DNA hybridization and 67.4-92.5% average amino acid identity values with type strains of all species in the <i>B. asteroides</i> group. Acid production from d-arabinose, l-arabinose, d-xylose, l-xylose, d-galactose, d-fructose, d-mannose and methyl<i>-α</i>-d-glucopyranoside; tolerance to 3% NaCl and activity of cystine arylamidase, <i>N</i>-acetyl-<i>β</i>-glucosaminidase, <i>α</i>-mannosidase and <i>α</i>-fucosidase could differentiate strains F806-1^T and F814-1.1 from the type strain of <i>B. polysaccharolyticum</i>. Based on the data obtained in the present study, a novel species, <i>Bifidobacterium apicola</i> sp. nov., is proposed, and the type strain is F806-1^T (=CCTCC AB 2024129^T=JCM 37002^T).