Streptococcus moroccensis sp. nov. and Streptococcus rifensis sp. nov., isolated from raw camel milk

Two catalase- and oxidase-negative Streptococcus-like strains, LMG 27682(T) and LMG 27684(T), were isolated from raw camel milk in Morocco. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequencing assigned these bacteria to the genus Streptococcus with Streptococcus rupicaprae 2777-2-07(T) as their closest phylogenetic neighbour (95.9 % and 95.7 % similarity, respectively). 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity between the two strains was 96.7 %. Although strains LMG 27682(T) and LMG 27684(T) shared a DNA DNA hybridization value that corresponded to the threshold level for species delineation (68 %), the two strains could be distinguished by multiple biochemical tests, sequence analysis of the phenylalanyl-tRNA synthase (pheS), RNA polymerase (rpoA) and ATP synthase (atpA) genes and by their MALDI-TOF MS profiles. On the basis of these considerable phenotypic and genotypic differences, we propose to classify both strains as novel species of the genus Streptococcus, for which the names Streptococcus moroccensis sp. nov. (type strain, LMG 27682(T)=CCMM B831(T)) and Streptococcus rifensis sp. nov. (type strain, LMG 27684(T)=CCMM B833(T)) are proposed