Corynebacterium tapiri sp. nov. and Corynebacterium nasicanis sp. nov., isolated from a tapir and a dog, respectively.

Two Gram-stain-positive bacterial isolates, strain 2385/12T and strain 2673/12T were isolated from a tapir and a dog's nose, respectively. The two strains were rod to coccoid-shaped, catalase-positive and oxidase-negative. The highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity identified Corynebacterium singulare CCUG 37330T (96.3% similarity) as the nearest relative of strain 2385/12T and suggested the isolate represented a novel species. Corynebacterium humireducens DSM 45392T (98.7% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity) was identified as the nearest relative of strain 2673/12T. Results from DNA-DNA hybridization with the type strain of C. humireducens demonstrated that strain 2673/12T also represented a novel species. Strain 2385/12T showed a quinone system consisting predominantly of menaquinones MK-8(H2) and MK-9(H2) whereas strain 2673/12T contained only MK-8(H2) as predominant quinone. The polar lipid profiles of the two strains showed the major compounds phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol and an unidentified glycolipid. Phosphatidylinositol was identified as another major lipid in 2673/12T whereas it was only found in moderate amounts in strain 2385/12T. Furthermore, moderate to minor amounts of phosphatidylinositol-mannoside, β-gentiobiosyl diacylglycerol and variable counts of several unidentified lipids were detected in the two strains. Both strains contained corynemycolic acids. The polyamine patterns were characterized by the major compound putrescine in strain 2385/12T and spermidine in strain 2673/12T. In the fatty acid profiles, predominantly C18:1ω9c and C16:0 were detected. The two strains are distinguishable from each other and the nearest related established species of the genus Corynebacterium phylogenetically and phenotypically. In conclusion, two novel species of the genus Corynebacterium are proposed, namely Corynebacterium tapiri sp. nov. (type strain, 2385/12T = CCUG 65456T = LMG 28165T) and Corynebacterium nasicanis sp. nov. (type strain, 2673/12T = CCUG 65455T = LMG 28166T).