Capnocytophaga felis sp. nov. isolated from the feline oral cavity

Abstract

Four strains, KC07070^T, KC07105, 11 025B-8C and 11 026B-8-C, were isolated from the oral cavity of cats in 2007 or 2011 in Japan. These strains were Gram-stain-negative rods, exhibited gliding motility, grew in air with 5 % CO₂ and showed catalase and oxidase activity. The sequences of 16S rRNA genes of the four strains were 100 % identical. Additionally, the sequences of 16S rRNA genes of KC07070^T had identity to those of the type strains of Capnocytophaga canimorsus (97.7 %), Capnocytophaga cynodegmi (97.8 %) and Capnocytophaga canis (97.4 %) and 91.2-93.8% identity to those of other species of the genus Capnocytophaga. The major cellular fatty acids of KC07070^T were iso-C_{15 : 0} (56.2 %) and summed feature 11 (14.9 %). The G+C content of the DNA from KC07070^T was 35.6 mol%, and the genome size was 2.88 Mbp. KC07070^T had digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) values of 26.2-27.6% and average nucleotide identity (ANI) values of 75.4-83.3 % to the type strains of the closest relatives, C. canimorsus, C. cynodegmi and C. canis. These results of phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequence, cellular fatty acids compositions and dDDH and ANI values indicate that strain KC07070^T represents a novel species, for which we propose the name Capnocytophaga felis sp. nov., with type strain KC07070^T (=JCM 32681^T=DSM 107251^T).

Keywords: Capnocytophaga; feline; oral cavity.