Leuconostoc kimchii sp. nov., a new species from kimchi

Abstract

A Gram-positive, catalase-negative, facultatively anaerobic, coccus-shaped bacterium, designated IH25(T), was isolated from kimchi, a traditional Korean vegetable product. Phylogenetic analysis based on almost complete 16S rDNA sequences placed the isolate in a monophyletic clade corresponding to the genus Leuconostoc. All validly described species in the genus Leuconostoc, with the exception of Leuconostoc fallax, showed high sequence identity of over 97%. The 16S rDNA sequence of strain IH25(T) showed the highest homology to those of Leuconostoc gelidum DSM 5578(T) (98.9%) and Leuconostoc citreum KCTC 3526(T) (98.3%). However, DNA-DNA hybridization experiments indicated that the organism represents a novel genomic species in the genus, since the previously known leuconostocs share DNA homology with strain IH25(T) of less than 70%. In this work, it is proposed that isolate IH25(T) be classified in the genus Leuconostoc as Leuconostoc kimchii sp. nov. The type strain of Leuconostoc kimchii is IH25(T) (= KCTC 2386(T) = IMSNU 11154(T)).