Actinomyces suimastitidis sp nov., isolated from pig mastitis

An unusual Actinomyces-like bacterium originating from a pig with mastitis was subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic investigation, The morphological an d biochemical characteristics of the organism were consistent with its prel iminary assignment to the genus Actinomyces but it did not appear to corres pond to any recognized species, PAGE analysis of whole-cell proteins confir med the phenotypic distinctiveness of the bacterium and 16S rRNA gene seque nce analysis demonstrated that it represents a hitherto unknown sub-line am ongst a cluster of Actinomyces species which embraces Actinomyces canis, Ac tinomyces georgiae, Actinomyces hyovaginalis, Actinomyces meyeri, Actinomyc es odontolyticus, Actinomyces radingae and Actinomyces turicensis. Based on phylogenetic and phenotypic evidence, it is proposed that the unknown bact erium isolated from pig mastitis be classified as Actinomyces suimastitidis sp, nov. The type strain of Actinomyces suimastitidis is CCUG 39276(T) (= CIP 106779(T)).