Lactobacillus ingluviei sp nov., isolated from the intestinal tract of pigeons

in a previous study on the enterococcal, streptococcal and lactobacillar crop flora of pigeons, Lactobacillus agilis was the most frequently isolated species and was present in eight of 10 pigeon crops examined (Baele et al., 2001 a). Five of the 10 pigeons were also colonized by an unknown bacterium, which showed a tRNA intergenic spacer PCR (tDNA-PCR) fingerprint different from those of all lactic acid bacteria available in the database. tDNA-PCR makes use of universal bacterial primers directed against the edges of the tRNA genes, amplifying the spacers between the genes. After determination of the amplicon lengths by means of capillary electrophoresis, a peak pattern is obtained that is characteristic for a given species (Baele et al., 2000, 2001b, 2002). The taxonomic position of this group of strains was investigated in a polyphasic study.