RECLASSIFICATION OF LACTOBACILLUS-CASEI SUBSP CASEI ATCC-393 AND LACTOBACILLUS-RHAMNOSUS ATCC-15820 AS LACTOBACILLUS-ZEAE NOM-REV, DESIGNATION OF ATCC-334 AS THE NEOTYPE OF LACTOBACILLUS-CASEI SUBSP CASEI, ANDREJECTION OF THE LACTOBACILLUS-PARACASEI

The type strain of Lactobacillus casei subsp. casei (ATCC 393) exhibit s low levels of DNA homology with other strains of L. casei subsp. cas ei (8 to 46%) and strains of Lactobacillus palacasei (30 to 50%), but exhibits a level of DNA similarity of 80% with Lactobacillus rhamnosus ATCC 15820, the original type strain of ''Lactobacterium zeae'' Kuzne tsov 1959. Strains ATCC 393(T) (T = type strain) and ATCC 15820(T) are members of one protein profile cluster that is separate from the othe r Lactobacillus spp. The randomly amplified polymorphic DNA PCR profil e of strain ATCC 393(T) is also different from the profiles obtained f or the other species. L. casei ATCC 334(T) is genetically closely rela ted to L. casei subsp. casei strains (71 to 97%) and L. paracasei stra ins (71 to 91%), is a member of the same protein profile cluster as th ese organisms, and shares several DNA amplicons with L. paracasei stra ins. On the basis of these results, we propose that L. casei subsp. ca sei ATCC 393(T) and L. rhamnosus ATCC 15820 should be reclassified as members of lactobacillus zeae nom. rev. (type strain, ATCC 15820), tha t strain ATCC 334 should be designated the neotype strain oft, casei s ubsp. casei, and that the name L. paracasei should be rejected.