Isolation and characterization of Kingella negevensis sp. nov., a novel Kingella species detected in a healthy paediatric population.

We herein report the isolation and characterization of 21 Gram-stain-negative strains cultivated from the oropharynx of healthy children in Israel and Switzerland. Initially described as small colony variants of Kingella kingae, phenotypic analysis, biochemical analysis, phylogenetic analysis based on sequencing of the partial 16S rRNA gene and five housekeeping genes (abcZ, adk, G6PD, groEL and recA), and whole genome sequencing and comparison between members of the genera Kingella and Neisseria provided evidence for assigning them to the genus Kingella. Cellular fatty acids included important amounts of C12 : 0, C14 : 0, C16 : 0 and C16 : 1n7.