Bifidobacterium lactis Meile et al. 1997 Is a Subjective Synonym of Bifidobacterium animalis (Mitsuoka 1969) Scardovi and Trovatelli 1974

Abstract

Bifidobacterium lactic JCM 10602^T (T=type strain) and Bifidobacterium animalis JCM 1190^T were found to be phenotypically similar. These strains were subjected to investigation of their genetic relationships. The 16S rRNA sequence of B. animalis JCM 1190^T was aligned with that of other Bifidobacterium species. B. animalis and B. lactis were the most closely related species in the phylogenetic tree and showed a high similarity in sequences (98.8%). The levels of DNA-DNA hybridization between the type strains of B. lactis and B. animalis ranged from 85.5 to 92.3%, showing that they represent a single species. It is proposed that B. lactic should be considered as a junior subjective synonym of B. animalis.