Rejection of the reclassification of Leuconostoc gasicomitatum as Leuconostoc gelidum subsp. gasicomitatum based on whole genome analysis

In 2014, Rahkila et al. transferred Leuconostoc gasicomitatum to Leuconostoc gelidum as L. gelidum subsp. gasicomitatum comb. nov. based on a 75 % DNA-DNA hybridization value. In the present study, the taxonomic status of L. gelidum subsp. gasicomitatum is re-evaluated by a polyphasic approach, including 16S rRNA, pheS, rpoA, recA, and atpA gene sequence analyses, phylogenomic treeing, analyses of ANI (average nucleotide identity) and dDDH (digital DNA-DNA hybridization), fatty acid methyl ester analysis and a phenotypic characterization. On the basis of the ANI and dDDH values, we propose to reject the proposal of Rahkila et al. to reclassify L. gasicomitatum as L. gelidum subsp. gasicomitatum.

Automated summary

This study re-evaluated the taxonomic status of Leuconostoc gelidum subsp. gasicomitatum using various methods and proposed rejecting the reclassification proposed by Rahkila et al.