Leucobacter musarum subsp. musarum sp. nov., subsp. nov., Leucobacter musarum subsp. japonicus subsp. nov., and Leucobacter celer subsp. astrifaciens subsp. nov., three nematopathogenic bacteria isolated from Caenorhabditis, with an emended description of Leucobacter celer

Three Gram-stain-positive, irregular-rod-shaped, non-motile, non-spore-forming bacteria were isolated from nematodes collected from Santa Antao, Cabo Verde (CBX151(T), CBX152(T)) and Kakegawa, Japan (CBX130(T)). Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, strains CBX130(T), CBX151(T) and CBX152(T) were shown to belong to the genus Leucobacter. This affiliation was supported by chemotaxonomic data (2,4-diaminobutyric acid in the cell wall; major respiratory quinones MK-10 and MK-11; major polar lipids phosphatidylglycerol and diphosphatidylglycerol; major fatty acids anteiso-C(15 : 0), anteiso-C(17 : 0) and iso-C(16 : 0)). Strains CBX130(T) and CBX152(T) were found to share salient characteristics. Based on morphological, physiological, chemotaxonomic and biochemical analysis, strain CBX152(T) represents a novel species of the genus Leucobacter, for which the name Leucobacter musarum sp. nov. (type strain CBX152(T) = DSM 27160(T) = CIP 110721(T)) is proposed. Two subspecies of Leucobacter musarum sp. nov. are proposed: Leucobacter musarum sp. nov. subsp. musarum subsp. nov. (type strain CBX152(T) = DSM 27160(T) = CIP 110721(T)) and Leucobacter musarum sp. nov. subsp. japonicus subsp. nov. (type strain CBX130(T) = DSM 27158(T) = CIP 110719(T)). The third novel strain, CBX151(T), showed genetic similarities with Leucobacter celer NAL101(T) indicating that these strains belong to the same species. Based on morphological, physiological, chemotaxonomic and biochemical differences it is proposed to split the species Leucobacter celer into two novel subspecies, Leucobacter celer subsp. celer subsp. nov. (type strain NAL101(T) = KACC 14220(T) = JCM 16465(T)) and Leucobacter celer subsp. astrifaciens subsp. nov. (type strain CBX151(T) = DSM 27159(T) = CIP 110720(T)), and to emend the description of Leucobacter celer Shin et al. 2011.