Acinetobacter seifertii sp. nov., a member of the Acinetobacter calcoaceticus-Acinetobacter baumannii complex isolated from human clinical specimens

Abstract

This study aimed to define the taxonomic status of a phenetically distinct group of 16 strains that corresponds to Acinetobacter genomic species 'close to 13TU', a provisional genomic species of the Acinetobacter calcoaceticus-Acinetobacter baumannii (ACB) complex recognized by Gerner-Smidt and Tjernberg in 1993. These strains have been isolated in different countries since the early 1990s and were mostly recovered from human clinical specimens. They were compared with 45 reference strains representing the known taxa of the ACB complex using taxonomic methods relevant to the genus Acinetobacter. Based on sequence analysis of the concatenated partial sequences (2976 bp) of seven housekeeping genes, the 16 strains formed a tight and well-supported cluster (intracluster sequence identity of ≥98.4 %) that was clearly separated from the other members of the ACB complex (≤94.7 %). The species status of the group was supported by average nucleotide identity values of ≤91.7 % between the whole genome sequence of representative strain NIPH 973(T) (NCBI accession no. APOO00000000) and those of the other species. In addition, whole-cell matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) MS analyses indicated the distinctness of the group at the protein level. Metabolic and physiological tests revealed several typical features of the group, although they did not allow its reliable differentiation from the other members of the ACB complex. We conclude that the 16 strains represent a distinct novel species, for which we propose the name Acinetobacter seifertii sp. nov. The type strain is NIPH 973(T) ( = CIP 110471(T) = CCUG 34785(T) = CCM 8535(T)).