Buttiauxella cochleicola sp. nov., a novel coliform bacterium with β-d-glucuronidase activity, isolated from gastropods and drinking water.

Four strains of coliform bacteria were isolated from drinking water (strains A2-C1_F and A2-C2_NF) and gastropod samples (strains W03-F01T and S04-F03). 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed the highest similarities to members of the genus Buttiauxella (>98%), indicating that all strains are members of this genus. Phylogenomic analyses revealed that strains W03-F01T, S04-F03 and A2-C1_F can be assigned to a putative new Buttiauxella species, while strain A2-C2_NF is a member of the species Buttiauxella ferragutiae. The strains W03-F01T, S04-F03 and A2-C1_F show fluorescence in the Colilert system, indicating unusual β-d-glucuronidase activity, typically considered indicative for Escherichia coli (and thus faecal contamination) in water quality analysis. The draft genome of strain W03-F01T has a size of 4.79 Mb and a G+C content of 50.0 mol%. With average nucleotide identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values of 96.2 and 68.8%, respectively, strain W03-F01T was most closely related to Buttiauxella massiliensis DSM 110695T. Additional extensive physiological, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic characterization of the strains and all reference strains confirmed the proposal of a novel species. Therefore, the strains W03-F01T, S04-F03 and A2-C1_F represent a novel species for which the name Buttiauxella cochleicola sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is W03-F01T (=DSM 113920T=CIP 112567T).