Catenibacterium mitsuokai gen. nov., sp. nov., a gram-positive anaerobic bacterium isolated from human faeces.

Six strains of Eubacterium-like strains from human faeces were characterized by biochemical tests and analysis of cell wall peptidoglycan type and 16S rRNA. They were members of the Clostridium subphylum and have a specific phylogenetic association with Lactobacillus catenaformis and Lactobacillus vitulinus. These organisms resembled L. vitulinus in possessing the same A1gamma type of murein, but they showed different fermentation end-products. On the basis of a 16S rDNA sequence divergence of greater than 8% from L. vitulinus as well as phenotypic characteristics, a new genus, Catenibacterium, with one species (Catenibacterium mitsuokai), is proposed for six strains. The type strain of C. mitsuokai is JCM 10609T.