sp. nov., a new species isolated from equine farm soil closely related to the pathogen .

We present the description of the new species, , found during phylogenomic investigations of a global collection of strains identified as () . Strain PAM 2766 was isolated from horse-breeding farm soil in Normandy, France, and was indistinguishable from based on the usual identification tests. Whole-genome phylogenetic analyses located PAM 2766 in the same sublineage as , together with , , , , and . PAM 2766 is most closely related to, but sufficiently distinct from, DSM 20307 to be considered a separate species. The average nt identity (ANI) and average aa identity (AAI) values are 88.60% and 92.35, respectively, well below the species cutoff. The PAM 2766 draft genome is ~5.3 Mb in size with 68.98% G+C mol content. PAM 2766 is strictly aerobic and non-motile and produces smooth, creamy to buff-coloured colonies very similar to those of . It phenotypically differs from the latter by the ability to grow at 5 °C, a strongly positive urease test at 24 h and specificities in the carbon and nitrogen source utilization profile as determined by phenotype microarray screens. Our data indicate that PAM 2766 belongs to a novel species, for which the name sp. nov. is proposed. was avirulent in macrophage infection assays and is assumed to be non-pathogenic. The type strain is PAM 2766 (=CETC 30995=NCTC 14987).