Porphyromonas gulae sp nov., an anaerobic, Gram-negative coccobacillus from the gingival sulcus of various animal hosts

A new species, Porphyromonas gulae sp, nov., is proposed to include strains isolated from the gingival sulcus of various animal hosts which are distin ct from related strains of Porphyromonas gingivalis of human origin, This b acterium exhibits the following characteristics: black-pigmented colonies; asaccharolytic, obligate anaerobic growth; and Gram-negative, non-motile an d non-spore-forming, rod-shaped cells. Colonies do not fluoresce under UV l ight, Vitamin K, and haemin are required for growth, Cells haemagglutinate sheep erythrocytes, Major fatty acid end products are butyric acid, isovale ric acid, succinic acid and phenylacetic acid. Strains are catalase-positiv e and indole is produced, Alkaline phosphatase, trypsin-like and N-acetyl-b eta -glucosaminidase activities are strong, A beta -galactosidase and a glu tamylglutamic acid arylamidase are also present, The G+C content of the chr omosomal DNA is 51 mol%, DNA-DNA homology data and 16S rRNA gene sequence a nalysis provide strong evidence that strains from the animal biotype of P, gingivalis represent a Porphyromonas species that is distinct from P, gingi valis. The type strain of P, gulae is Loup 1(T) (= ATCC 51700(T) = NCTC 131 80(T)).