Ureaplasma ceti sp. nov. isolated from the gastric fluid of a spotted dolphin (Stenella attenuata).

Abstract

Ureaplasma sp. (OM1^T, OM4 and OM7) novel strains were isolated from the gastric fluid of a spotted dolphin (Stenella attenuata). These strains were phenotypically and genotypically characterized, and compared with known species of the genus Ureaplasma. All isolated strains hydrolysed urea and metabolized arginine, but did not produce acid from glucose. All strains were propagated using pleuropneumonia-like organisms medium supplemented with serum and urea under aerobic and anaerobic atmospheric conditions at 37 °C. Transmission electron microscopy revealed a typical mollicute cellular morphology. Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence indicated that the most closely related, validly named type strain was Ureaplasma gallorale ATCC 43346^T (89.4% similarity). The average nucleotide identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values among strain OM1^T and closely related species were lower than the accepted thresholds for describing novel prokaryotic species at the genomic level. Based on the genomic, phenotypic and phylogenetic properties, the strains represent a novel species of the genus Ureaplasma, for which the name Ureaplasma ceti sp. nov. with type strain OM1^T (=DSM 116106^T=JCM 39153^T) is proposed. The genomic G+C content and draft genome sizes of the type strain were 31.7% and 889 711 bp, respectively.