A strain of lactic acid bacteria, designated NtB2T, isolated from the gut of the wood-feeding higher termite Nasutitermes takasagoensis, was characterized genetically and phenotypically. Strain NtB2T was related to Lactococcus lacti subsp. tructae JCM 31125T isolated from brown trout, showing 93.2 and 81.0 % similarity in 16S rRNA gene and rpoB gene sequences, respectively. Furthermore, genomic comparisons using pairwise average nucleotide identity analysis and the Genome-to-Genome Distance Calculator between strain NtB2T and L. lacti subsp. tructae JCM 31125T gave values of 81.0 and 23.2 %, respectively. Major cellular fatty acids produced by strain NtB2T were C18 : 1ω9c and C16 : 0. The cell-wall peptidoglycan type of strain NtB2T was A3α, Lys-Gly-Ser-Ala2. Based on the data presented, the isolate represents a novel species of the genus Lactococcus, for which the name Lactococcus termiticola sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is NtB2T (=JCM 32569T=DSM 107259T).
Keywords: rpoB; termite.