Apibacter mensalis sp. nov.: a rare member of the bumblebee gut microbiota.

Isolates LMG 28357T (=R-53146T) and LMG 28623 were obtained from gut samples of Bombus lapidarius bumblebees caught in Ghent, Belgium. They had identical 16S rRNA gene sequences which were 95.7 % identical to that of Apibacter adventoris wkB301T, a member of the family Flavobacteriaceae. Both isolates had highly similar matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) MS and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) profiles. A draft genome sequence was obtained for strain LMG 28357T (Gold ID Gp0108260); its DNA G+C content was 30.4%, which is within the range reported for members of the family Flavobacteriaceae (27 to 56 mol%) and which is similar to that of the type strain of A. adventoris (29.0 mol%). Whole-cell fatty acid methyl ester analysis of strain LMG 28357T revealed many branched-chain fatty acids, a typical characteristic of bacteria of the family Flavobacteriaceae and a profile that was similar to that reported for A. adventoris wkB301T. MK6 was the major respiratory quinone, again conforming to bacteria of the family Flavobacteriaceae. The isolates LMG 28357T and LMG 28623 could be distinguished from A. adventoris strains through their oxidase activity. On the basis of phylogenetic, genotypic and phenotypic data, we propose to classify both isolates as representatives of a novel species of the genus Apibacter, Apibacter mensalis sp. nov., with LMG 28357T (=DSM 100903T=R-53146T) as the type strain.