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. 2019 May 29;31:100567. doi: 10.1016/j.nmni.2019.100567

Selenomonas felix sp. nov., a new bacterium isolated from human sputum

E Kuete 1, MD Mbogning Fonkou 1, F Mekhalif 1, H Anani 2, J-P Baudoin 1, D Raoult 1,3, JY Bou Khalil 1,
PMCID: PMC6614701  PMID: 31333847

Abstract

Selenomonas felix strain Marseille-P3560T (=CSURP3560) is a new species isolated from human sputum.

Keywords: Culturomics, new species, Selenomonas felix, sputum, taxonogenomics

Introduction

Culturomics is the concept of developing different culture conditions in order to enlarge our knowledge of the human microbiota through the discovery of previously uncultured bacteria [1], [2], [3], [4]. Once a bacterium is isolated, a taxonogenomic approach is used, including MALDI-TOF MS, phylogenetic analysis, main phenotypic description (Table 1) and genome sequencing, to describe it [5], [6].

Table 1.

Phenotypic characterization of Selenomonas felix based on biochemical tests

Test Result
API 50 CH
 Control
 Glycerol
 Erythrol
 d-Arabinose
 l-Arabinose +
 d-Ribose
 d-Xylose +
 l-Xylose +
 d-Adonitol +
 Methyl-βd-xylopyranoside +
 d-Galactose
 d-Glucose +
 d-Fructose +
 d-Mannose +
 l-Sorbose +
 l-Rhammose
 Dulcitol +
 Inositol
 d-Mannitol
 d-Sorbitol
 Methyl-αd-mannopyranoside
 Methyl-αd-glucopyranoside
 N-Acetylglucosamine
 Amygdaline
 Arbutine
 Esculine
 Salicine +
 d-Cellobiose
 d-Maltose +
 d-Lactose +
 d-Melibiose +
 d-Saccharose +
 d-Trehalose +
 Inuline +
 d-Melezitose
 d-Raffinose +
 Amidon +
 Glycogene +
 Xylitol
 Gentibiose +
 d-Turanose +
 d-Lyxose +
 d-Tagatose +
 d-Fucose +
 l-Fucose +
 d-Arabitol +
 l-Arabitol +
 Potassium gluconate +
 Potassium 2-cetogluconate
 Potassium 5-cetogluconate +
API ZYM
 Control
 Alkaline phosphatase
 Esterase (C4)
 Esterase lipase (C8)
 Lipase (C14)
 Leucine arylamidase
 Valine arylamidase
 Cystine arylamidase
 Trypsine
 α-Chymotrypsine
 Acid phosphatase +
 Naphtalo-AS-BI-phosphohydrolase +
 α-Galactosidase +
 β-Galactosodase +
 β-Glucuronidase
 α-Glucosidase +
 β-Glucosidase
 N-Acetyl-β-glucosaminidase
 α-Mannosidase

+, positive result; −, negative result.

Isolation and growth conditions

In 2017 we isolated from a human sputum sample an unidentified bacterial strain. The study was validated by the ethics committee of IHU Méditerranée Infection under number 2016-011. A screening was made by MALDI-TOF MS on a Microflex LT spectrometer (Bruker Daltonics, Bremen, Germany) as previously described [7]. The obtained spectra (Fig. 1) were imported into MALDI Biotyper 3.0 software (Bruker Daltonics) and analysed against the main spectra of the bacteria included in the database (Bruker database constantly updated with Microbes Evolution Phylogeny and Infections (MEPHI) database; http://www.mediterraneeinfection.com/article.php?larub=280&titre=urms-database). The initial growth was obtained after 48 hours' culture on Columbia agar with 5% sheep's blood in anaerobic conditions at 37°C at pH 7.5.

Fig. 1.

Fig. 1

MALDI-TOF MS reference mass spectrum. Spectra from 12 individual colonies were compared and reference spectrum generated.

Strain identification

The 16S rRNA gene was sequenced in order to classify this bacterium. Amplification was done by using the primer pair fD1 and rP2 (Eurogentec, Angers, France), and sequencing by the Big Dye Terminator v1.1 Cycle Sequencing Kit and the ABI Prism 3130xl Genetic Analyzer capillary sequencer (ThermoFisher, Saint-Aubin, France), as previously described [8]. The 16S rRNA nucleotide sequences were assembled and corrected using CodonCode Aligner software (http://www.codoncode.com). Strain Selenomonas felix exhibited a 96% sequence identity with Selenomonas dianae strain ATCC 43527 (GenBank accession no. NR_041805.1), the phylogenetically closest species with standing in nomenclature (Fig. 2). We consequently classified this strain as a member of a new species within the genus Selenomonas, family Selenomonadaceae, phylum Firmicutes.

Fig. 2.

Fig. 2

Phylogenetic tree showing position of Selenomonas felix strain Marseille-P3560T relative to other phylogenetically close neighbours. Respective GenBank accession numbers for 16S rRNA genes are indicated in parentheses. Sequences were aligned using Muscle v3.8.31 with default parameters, and phylogenetic inferences were obtained using maximum likelihood method within MEGA 7 software. Numbers at nodes are percentages of bootstrap values obtained by repeating analysis 100 times to generate majority consensus tree. Scale bar indicates 5% nucleotide sequence divergence.

Phenotypic characteristics

Colonies were pink in colour and circular in shape, with a mean diameter of 1 mm. Bacterial cells were Gram negative and rod shaped; ranged in length from 2.42 to 2.49 μm and in width from 0.48 to 0.57 μm; and were motile with multiple flagellae (Fig. 3). Strain Marseille-P3560T showed catalase-negative and oxidase-negative activities. API 50CH and API ZYM tests were performed at 37°C under anaerobic conditions (Table 2).

Fig. 3.

Fig. 3

Electron micrograph of Selenomonas felix strain Marseille-P3560T was acquired with Hitachi TM4000Plus tabletop scanning electron microscope. Note flagella around bacteria. Scale bar and acquisition settings are detailed on micrograph.

Table 2.

Description of Selenomonas felix according to digitalized protologue TA00880 (www.imedea.uib.es/dprotologue)

Characteristic Value
Taxonumber TA00880
Date of entry 2019-04-19
First submission date 2019-04-19
Draft number/date 003
Version Submitted
Species name Selenomonas felix
Genus name Selenomonas
Specific epithet Selenomonas felix
Species status sp. nov.
Species etymology Selenomonas felix sp. nov. fe'lix [pronounced fay'lix]. L. adj, felix, ‘lucky’ [referring to its presence in sputum sample of healthy person]
E-mail of corresponding author edmondkuete@yahoo.fr
Submitter Kuete Yimagou Edmond
E-mail of submitter edmondkuete@yahoo.fr
Designation of type strain Marseille-P3560T
Strain collection numbers CSURP3560
16S rRNA gene accession number LT725659
Genome accession number [EMBL] FYCJ00000000
Data on origin of sample from which strain had been isolated
 Country of origin France
 Region of origin Paca
 Source of isolation Sputum
 Sampling date 2016-08-12
 Temperature of sample 37°C
 pH of sample 7.5
 Source of isolation of nontype strains Gut
 Gram stain Negative
 Cell shape Rod
 If motile Flagellar
 Sporulation (resting cells) None
 Highest temperature for growth 45
 Temperature optimum 37
 Habitat Human

Genome sequencing

Genomic DNA was extracted using the EZ1 biorobot (Qiagen, Courtaboeuf, France) with the EZ1 DNA tissue kit, then sequenced by MiSeq technology (Illumina, San Diego, CA, USA) with the Nextera XT Paired end (Illumina), as previously described [9]. The assembly was performed with a pipeline incorporating different software (Velvet [10], Spades [11] and Soap Denovo [12]) on trimmed (Trimmomatic [13]) or raw data. GapCloser was used to reduce assembly gaps. Scaffolds <800 bp and scaffolds with a depth value lower than 25% of the mean depth were removed. The best assembly was selected by using different criteria (17 scaffolds, 19 contigs).

The genome of strain Marseille-P3560T is 2 402 833 bp long with a 56.8 mol% G+C content and contains 2393 predicted genes. The degree of genomic similarity of strain Marseille-P3560T with closely related species was estimated by OrthoANI software [14]. Values among closely related species (Fig. 4) ranged from 62.02% between Termanaerovibrio acidaminovorans and Selenomonas flueggei to 90.97% between Marseille-P3560T and Selenomonas flueggei. When the isolate was compared to these closely species, values ranged from 62.82% with Termanaerovibrio acidaminovorans to 90.97% with Selenomonas flueggei.

Fig. 4.

Fig. 4

Heat map generated with OrthoANI values calculated using OAT software between genus and species, and other closely related species with standing in nomenclature.

Conclusion

Strain Selenomonas felix exhibited a 16S rRNA sequence divergence <98.65% and an OrthoANI value < 95% with its phylogenetically closest species with standing in nomenclature, together with unique phenotypic features. It is consequently proposed as the type strain of the new species Selenomonas felix sp. nov.

Nucleotide sequence accession number

The 16S rRNA gene and genome sequences were deposited in GenBank under accession numbers LT725659 and FYCJ00000000 respectively.

Deposit in culture collections

Strain Marseille-P3560T was deposited in the collections under number CSURP3560.

Conflict of interest

None declared.

Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the IHU Méditerranée Infection (Marseille, France) and by the French government under the ‘Investissements d'avenir’ (Investments for the Future) programme managed by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (National Agency for Research; Méditerranée Infection 10-IAHU- 03). This work was also supported by ‘Région Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur’ and European funding via ‘Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional’ (FEDER). The authors thank Hitachi Corporation for providing the TM4000Plus tabletop microscope. They also thank M. Lardière from IHU-Méditerranée Infection, Marseille for English-language review and A. Caputo from IHU-Méditerranée Infection, Marseille for submitting the genomic sequences to GenBank.

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