Bifidobacterium primatium sp. nov., Bifidobacterium scaligerum sp. nov., Bifidobacterium felsineum sp. nov. and Bifidobacterium simiarum sp. nov.: Four novel taxa isolated from the faeces of the cotton top tamarin (Saguinus oedipus) and the emperor tamarin (Saguinus imperator)

Four novel Gram-stain-positive, non spore forming and fructose-6-phosphate phosphoketolase-positive strains were isolated from the faeces of a cotton top tamarin (Saguinus oedipus) and an emperor tamarin (Saguinus imperator). Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA revealed that bifidobacterial strains TRE 1Texhibit close phylogenetic relatedness to Bifidobacterium catulorum DSM 103154 (96.0%) and Bifidobacterium tissieri DSM 100201 (96.0%); TRE DTand TRE HTwere closely related to Bifidobacterium longum subsp. longum ATCC 15708Twith similarity values of 97.4% and 97.5%, respectively; TRI 7Twas closely related to Bifidobacterium tissieri DSM 100201 (96.0%). The Average Nucleotide Identity (ANI) and in silico DDH (isDDH) analysis with closest neighbour supported an independent phylogenetic position of all strains with values ranged from 74 to 85% for ANI and from 24 to 28% for isDDH. DNA base composition of the four strains was in the range of 58.3–63.5 mol% G + C. Based on the phylogenetic, genotypic and phenotypic data, the strains TRE 1T, TRE DT, TRE HTand TRI 7Tclearly represent four novel taxa within the genus Bifidobacterium for which the names Bifidobacterium primatium sp. nov. (type strain TRE 1T= DSM 100687T= JCM 30945T), Bifidobacterium scaligerum sp. nov. (type strain TRE DT= DSM 103140T= JCM 31792T), Bifidobacterium felsineum sp. nov. (type strain TRE HT= DSM 103139T= JCM 31789T) and Bifidobacterium simiarum sp. nov. (type strain TRI 7T= DSM 103153T= JCM 31793) are proposed.