sp. nov., isolated from the intestinal contents of plateau pika () on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Two Gram-staining-positive, catalase-positive, oxidase-negative, aerobic, non-motile, irregular rod-shaped bacterial strains (Z350 and Z527) were isolated from intestinal contents of plateau pika () from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, PR China. Results of phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain Z350 belongs to the genus (family ) but clearly differs from the currently recognized species DSM 101040 (98.4 % similarity) and DSM 27763 (97.4 %). Strain Z350 had a DNA G+C content of 70.7 mol% and shared 80.4 and 76.7 % average nucleotide identity values and 23.4 and 20.6 % DNA-DNA hybridization relatedness with DSM 101040 and DSM 27763, respectively. Further phylogenetic analyses based on 497 core genes indicated that our isolates were members of the genus but separated from all existing genera within the family . The major cellular fatty acids were C ω9 and 10-methyl C. The cell wall contained ll-diaminopimelic acid as the diamino acid, and rhamnose, ribose and glucose as whole cell-wall sugars. MK-9(H) was detected as the major menaquinone. Polar lipids present were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylinositol mannoside and one unidentified phospholipid. Based on distinct differences in the genotypic and phenotypic data from the two species, a novel species, sp. nov., is proposed. The type strain is Z350 (=CGMCC 4.7464=DSM 106288).