Abstract
The taxonomic relationship of strains previously designated as “ Propionibacterium rubrum” to P. thoenii and P. jensenii was investigated by use of 16S ribosomal RNA sequence comparison, biochemical characteristics and DNA hybridization. A total of 46 strains representing the species P. jensenii and P. thoenii and the former species “ P. rubrum” and also including 21 reference strains and 25 strains isolated from dairy sources were studied. The 16S rRNA sequence of strain “ P. rubrum” CNRZ 85 (= ATCC 4871) was found to be almost identical to that of the type strain of P. jensenii. DNA hybridization data indicated that “ P. rubrum” should belong to the species P. jensenii rather than P. thoenii, as formerly proposed. The “ P. rubrum” strains should then be reclassified as a β-haemolytic biovar of P. jensenii. The genomic species P. jensenii and P. thoenii could be differentiated by biochemical characteristics such as the production of acid from myo-inoshol and starch.
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