RESEARCH ARTICLE Pseudoprevotella muciniphila gen. nov., sp. nov., a mucin-degrading bacterium attached to the bovine rumen epithelium

Abstract

A Gram-negative, strictly anaerobic mucin-degrading bacterium, which we designated strain E39T, was isolated from the rumen epithelium of Korean cattle. The cells were non-motile and had a coccus morphology. Growth of strain E39T was observed at 30–45◦C (optimum, 39◦C), pH 6.5–8.5 (optimum, pH 7.5), and in the presence of 0.0–1.0% (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 0.0–0.5%). Strain E39T contained C16:0, C18:0, C18:1 ω9c, iso-C15:0, and anteiso-C15:0 as the major fatty acids. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, unidentified aminophospholipid, and unidentified lipids. The major respiratory isoprenoid quinones were MK-8 and MK-9. The major fermented end-products of mucin were acetate and succinate. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 46.4 mol%. Strain E39T was most closely related to Alloprevotella rava 81/4-12T with an 87.3% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity. On the basis of phenotypic, chemotaxonomic, and molecular properties, strain E39T represents a novel genus of the family Prevotellaceae; as such, the name Pseudoprevotella muciniphila gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. A functional annotation of the whole genome sequences of P. muciniphila E39T revealed that this bacterium has a putative mucin-degrading pathway and biosynthetic pathways of extracellular polymeric substances and virulence factors which enable bacteria to adhere to the epithelial cells and avoid the host’s immune responses.