PHYLOGENETIC CHARACTERIZATION AND PROPOSAL OF A NEW PIGMENTED SPECIESTO THE GENUS PREVOTELLA, PREVOTELLA PALLENS SP. NOV

Complete 16S rRNA gene sequences of three representative strains of an aerobic, Gram-negative, pigmented, moderately saccharolytic, indole-po sitive bacteria isolated from the oral cavity of humans were determine d, According to comparative analyses of the rRNA sequence data, this o rganism represents a previously unknown species within the genus Prevo tella, In addition, 22 representative strains and 21 reference strains (including 11 Prevotella intermedia and 10 Prevotella nigrescens stra ins) were subjected to multilocus enzyme electrophoretic analysis, The strains were consistently separated into three clearly distinct group s, corresponding to their previous entities, On the basis of the prese nt phylogenetic results that confirmed our biochemical and genetic dat a, we propose a new species, Prevotella pallens. The type strain is NC TC 13042 (= AHN 10371).