Metascardovia criceti gen. nov., sp nov., from hamster dental plaque

A novel microorganism, Metascardovia criceti gen. nov., sp. nov., was isolated from dental plaque of golden hamsters fed with a high-carbohydrate diet. The three isolated strains, OMB104, OMB105, and OMB107, were Gram-positive, facultative anaerobic rods that lacked catalase activity. Analyses of the partial 16S rRNA and heat-shock protein 60 (HSP60) gene sequences of these isolates indicated that they belonged to the family Bifidobacteriaceae. However, in contrast to Bifidobacterium, one of the genera under this family, these isolates grew under aerobic conditions, and the DNA G + C contents were lower (53 mol%) than those of Bifidobacterium. On the basis of phylogenetic analyses using phenotypic characterization, and partial 16S rRNA and HSP60 gene sequences data, we propose a novel taxa, Metascardovia criceti for OMB105(T) (type strain=JCM 13493(T)=DSM 17774(T)) for this newly described isolate.