Lactobacillus panis sp. nov., from sourdough with a long fermentation period.

Two Lactobacillus strains isolated from rye sourdough most closely resemble Lactobacillus oris on the basis of their physiological, morphological, and chemotaxonomic characteristics. A 16S ribosomal DNA sequence analysis showed that these two strains clustered with, but were separate from, L. oris, Lactobacillus vaginalis, and Lactobacillus pontis. The results of DNA-DNA hybridization experiments indicated that the new two isolates represent a new Lactobacillus species, for which we propose the name Lactobacillus panis; strain DSM 6035T is the type strain of this species.