Prevotella merdae sp. nov., a new bacterial species isolated from human faeces

We described a new Prevotella species isolated from humans as Prevotella merdaesp. nov. Strain Marseille-P4119(T) was isolated from a faecal sample of a healthy 32-year-old faecal transplant donor. The bacterium was anaerobic, Gram-negative, rod-shaped, non-motile, and did not produce spores. We studied its phenotypic characteristics and sequenced its whole genome. The major fatty acids were C-15:0anteiso and C-15:0iso. The final genome assembly was 3912650 bp long with a 44.4 mol% G + C content, 3094 protein-coding genes and 74 RNA genes. Strain Marseille-P4119(T) exhibited a 97.10% 16S rRNA sequence identity and a 29.0% dDDH with Prevotella stercorea CB35(T), OrthoANI values ranged from 68.5% with Prevotella enoeca to 77.4% with Prevotella stercorea, the phylogenetically closest bacterial species with standing in nomenclature. Based on the phylogenetic, phenotypic and genomic analyses, we propose the creation of the novel species Prevotella merdae sp. nov. The type strain is Marseille-P4119(T) ( = CSUR P4119(T) = CECT 9566(T)).