Lactobacillus apinorum sp. nov., Lactobacillus mellifer sp. nov., Lactobacillus mellis sp. nov., Lactobacillus melliventris sp. nov., Lactobacillus kimbladii sp. nov., Lactobacillus helsingborgensis sp. nov. and Lactobacillus kullabergensis sp. nov., isolated from the honey stomach of the honeybee Apis mellifera.

We previously discovered a symbiotic lactic acid bacterial (LAB) microbiota in the honey stomach of the honeybee Apis mellifera. The microbiota was composed of several phylotypes of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus. 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses and phenotypic and genetic characteristics revealed that the phylotypes isolated represent seven novel species. One grouped with Lactobacillus kunkeei and the others belong to the Lactobacillus buchneri and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subgroups of Lactobacillus. We propose the names Lactobacillus apinorum sp. nov., Lactobacillus mellifer sp. nov., Lactobacillus mellis sp. nov., Lactobacillus melliventris sp. nov., Lactobacillus kimbladii sp. nov., Lactobacillus helsingborgensis sp. nov. and Lactobacillus kullabergensis sp. nov. for these novel species, with the respective type strains being Fhon13N(T) ( = DSM 26257(T) = CCUG 63287(T)), Bin4N(T) ( = DSM 26254(T) = CCUG 63291(T)), Hon2N(T) ( = DSM 26255(T) = CCUG 63289(T)), Hma8N(T) ( = DSM 26256(T) = CCUG 63629(T)), Hma2N(T) ( = DSM 26263(T) = CCUG 63633(T)), Bma5N(T) ( = DSM 26265(T) = CCUG 63301(T)) and Biut2N(T) ( = DSM 26262(T) = CCUG 63631(T)).