sp. nov. and sp. nov., isolated from the gut of honeybee ().

Four Gram-stain-positive bacterial strains were isolated from the gut of honeybee () in China. These strains were characterized using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. The data demonstrated that three of the four strains represented two novel species of the genus , strains F306-1 and F551-2 were designated as the type strains. Results of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that strains F306-1, F447 and F551-2 were phylogenetically related to the type strains of and , having 99.1-99.7 % 16S rRNA gene sequence (about 1400 bp) similarities. The phylogenetic tree based on concatenated , , , , , and sequences (4114 bp) and the phylogenomic tree based on whole genome sequences indicated that strains F306-1 and F447 were most closely related to Biut2N, and strain F551-2 was most closely related to Hma2N. Strains F306-1 and F447 shared 99.9 % average nucleotide identity (ANI), 99.7 % digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) and 99.9 % average amino acid identity (AAI) values, indicating that they belong to the same species. Strain F306-1 exhibited the highest ANI (94.4 %), dDDH (56.7 %) and AAI (94.7 %) values to Biut2N. Strain F551-2 had the highest ANI (94.0 %), dDDH (54.3 %) and AAI (95.8 %) values with Hma2N. Acid production from amygdalin, maltose, starch, gentiobiose and turanose, activity of esterase (C4) and -glucosidase, growth with 3 % NaCl at 37 °C under strict anaerobic condition (on mMRS agar plates), and growth with 1-6% NaCl at 37 °C under aerobic condition (on mMRS agar plates supplemented with 0.05 % cysteine or with 1 % cysteine and 2 % fructose) could differentiate strains F306-1 and F447 from DSM 26262. Acid production from d-glucose, arbutin and gentiobiose, growth with 3 % NaCl at 37 °C under strict anaerobic condition (on mMRS agar plates), and growth at 45 °C under strict anaerobic condition (on mMRS agar plates) could differentiate strain F551-2 from DSM 26263. Based upon the data obtained in the present study, two novel species, sp. nov. and sp. nov., are proposed and the type strains are F306-1 (=LMG 32144=JCM 34361=CCTCC AB 2020300) and F551-2 (=JCM 34502=CCTCC AB 2021027), respectively.