Bifidobacterium apicola sp. nov., isolated from the gut of honeybee (Apis mellifera).

Two novel bifidobacteria (designated F806-1^T and F814-1.1) isolated from the gut of honeybee (Apis mellifera) were characterized in the present study. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that strains F806-1^T and F814-1.1 belonged to the Bifidobacterium asteroides group and were most closely related to Bifidobacterium apousia W8102^T and Bifidobacterium polysaccharolyticum W8117^T, having 98.9-99.4% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities. Strains F806-1^T and F814-1.1 had the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities (99.1 and 99.4 %) with B. polysaccharolyticum W8117^T. Strains F806-1^T and F814-1.1 had 73.2-90.5% average nucleotide identity, 21.5-40.8% digital DNA-DNA hybridization and 67.4-92.5% average amino acid identity values with type strains of all species in the B. asteroides group. Acid production from d-arabinose, l-arabinose, d-xylose, l-xylose, d-galactose, d-fructose, d-mannose and methyl-α-d-glucopyranoside; tolerance to 3% NaCl and activity of cystine arylamidase, N-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase, α-mannosidase and α-fucosidase could differentiate strains F806-1^T and F814-1.1 from the type strain of B. polysaccharolyticum. Based on the data obtained in the present study, a novel species, Bifidobacterium apicola sp. nov., is proposed, and the type strain is F806-1^T (=CCTCC AB 2024129^T=JCM 37002^T).