Listeria ilorinensis sp. nov. isolated from cow milk cheese in Nigeria

Ibrahim Adisa Raufu (1) , Alexandra Moura (2, 3) , Guillaume Vales (2, 3) , Olayiwola Akeem (1) , Abdulfatai Aremu (1) , Pierre Thouvenot (2, 3) , Nathalie Tessaud-Rita (2, 3) , Hélène Bracq-Dieye (2, 3) , Ramar Krishnamurthy (4) , Alexandre Leclercq (2, 3) , Marc Lecuit (2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)

1 University of Ilorin
2 CNRL - Centre National de Référence Listeria - National Reference Center Listeria
3 CC-OMS / WHO-CC - Centre collaborateur de l'OMS Listeria / WHO Collaborating Centre Listeria
4 Uka Tarsadia University
5 Biologie des Infections - Biology of Infection
6 UPCité - Université Paris Cité
7 CHU Necker - Enfants Malades [AP-HP]
8 Service des Maladies infectieuses et tropicales [CHU Necker]
9 Imagine - U1163 - Imagine - Institut des maladies génétiques (IHU)

During microbial assessment of cow milk cheese products in the city of Ilorin, Nigeria, a Listeria-like isolate was detected which could not be assigned to any known species. Whole- genome sequence analyses against all currently known 26 Listeria species confirmed that this isolate constitutes a new taxon within the Listeria genus, with highest similarity to Listeria costaricensis (average nucleotide identity BLAST of 82.66%, in silico DNA-DNA hybridization of 28.3%). Phenotypically, it differs from L. costaricensis by the inability to ferment D-sucrose, L-fucose and starch. The absence of haemolysis and Listeria pathogenic islands suggest that this novel species is not pathogenic for humans and animals. The name Listeria ilorinensis sp. nov. is proposed, with the type strain CLIP 2019/01311T (=CIP111875T = DSM 111566T)

Keywords: new taxa; Firmicutes; whole genome sequencing; ANI; AAI; isDDH

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Human health and pathology; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Human health and pathology; Infectious diseases; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Microbiology and Parasitology; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Microbiology and Parasitology; Bacteriology

Ibrahim Adisa Raufu, Alexandra Moura, Guillaume Vales, Olayiwola Akeem, Abdulfatai Aremu, et al.. Listeria ilorinensis sp. nov. isolated from cow milk cheese in Nigeria. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, In press. ⟨pasteur-03696084⟩