Bacteria within family S24-7 (phylum Bacteroidetes) are dominant in the mouse gut microbiota and detected in the intestine of other animals. Because they had not been cultured until recently and the family classification is still ambiguous, interaction with their host was difficult to study and confusion still exists regarding sequence data annotation. We investigated family S24-7 by combining data from large-scale 16S rRNA gene analysis and from functional and taxonomic studies of metagenomic and cultured species. A total of 685 species was inferred by full-length 16S rRNA gene sequence clustering. While many species could not be assigned ecological habitats (93,045 samples analyzed), the mouse was the most commonly identified host (average of 20% relative abundance and nine co-occurring species). Shotgun metagenomics allowed reconstruction of 59 molecular species, of which 34 were representative of the 16S rRNA gene-derived species clusters. In addition, cultivation efforts allowed isolating five strains representing three species, including two novel taxa. Genome analysis revealed that S24-7 spp. are functionally distinct from neighboring families and versatile with respect to complex carbohydrate degradation. We provide novel data on the diversity, ecology, and description of bacterial family S24-7, for which the name Muribaculaceae is proposed.

Our knowledge about the gut microbiota of pigs is still scarce, despite the importance of these animals for biomedical research and agriculture. Here, we present a collection of cultured bacteria from the pig gut, including 110 species across 40 families and nine phyla. We provide taxonomic descriptions for 22 novel species and 16 genera. Meta-analysis of 16S rRNA amplicon sequence data and metagenome-assembled genomes reveal prevalent and pig-specific species within Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, Clostridium, Desulfovibrio, Enterococcus, Fusobacterium, and several new genera described in this study. Potentially interesting functions discovered in these organisms include a fucosyltransferase encoded in the genome of the novel species Clostridium porci, and prevalent gene clusters for biosynthesis of sactipeptide-like peptides. Many strains deconjugate primary bile acids in in vitro assays, and a Clostridium scindens strain produces secondary bile acids via dehydroxylation. In addition, cells of the novel species Bullifex porci are coccoidal or spherical under the culture conditions tested, in contrast with the usual helical shape of other members of the family Spirochaetaceae. The strain collection, called ‘Pig intestinal bacterial collection’ (PiBAC), is publicly available at www.dsmz.de/pibac and opens new avenues for functional studies of the pig gut microbiota.

The study of microbial communities is hampered by the large fraction of still unknown bacteria. However, many of these species have been isolated, yet lack a validly published name or description. The validation of names for novel bacteria requires that the uniqueness of those taxa is demonstrated and their properties are described. The accepted format for this is the protologue, which can be time-consuming to create. Hence, many research fields in microbiology and biotechnology will greatly benefit from new approaches that reduce the workload and harmonise the generation of protologues. We have developed Protologger, a bioinformatic tool that automatically generates all the necessary readouts for writing a detailed protologue. By producing multiple taxonomic outputs, functional features and ecological analysis using the 16S rRNA gene and genome sequences from a single species, the time needed to gather the information for describing novel taxa is substantially reduced. The usefulness of Protologger was demonstrated by using three published isolate collections to describe 34 novel taxa, encompassing 17 novel species and 17 novel genera, including the automatic generation of ecologically and functionally relevant names. We also highlight the need to utilise multiple taxonomic delineation methods, as while inconsistencies between each method occur, a combined approach provides robust placement. Protologger is open source; all scripts and datasets are available, along with a webserver at www.protologger.de

The genus Prevotella comprises 55 species with validly published, and correct, names (at June 2021) that are phenotypically, ecologically and functionally diverse. This study used a range of comparative genome approaches (marker gene-based genome phylogeny, core genome phylogeny, average amino acid identity, percentage of conserved proteins and clade-specific marker genes) to identify large differences between the 53 species for which genomes are available, as well as two effectively published yet not validly named species and four novel species. These differences were consistent between the various analysis methods and justify the separation of Prevotella into multiple genera. While the distribution across 19 ecosystem types was unique for each species and inconsistent within clades, the functional repertoire based on the presence/absence of both PFAMs and CAZy families revealed distinct clustering based on the proposed genera. Based on the integration of all results, we propose the reclassification of species previously assigned to the genus Prevotella into seven genera, including four novel genera for which the names Segatella, Hoylesella, Leyella and Palleniella are proposed. In addition to the reclassification of Prevotella, this work describes four novel species, Hallella faecis, Xylanibacter rodentium, Xylanibacter muris, and Palleniella intestinalis.

The rumen is a complex ecosystem. It is the primary site for microbial fermentation of ingested feed allowing conversion of a low nutritional feed source into high quality meat and milk products. However, digestive inefficiencies lead to production of high amounts of environmental pollutants; methane and nitrogenous waste. These inefficiencies could be overcome by development of forages which better match the requirements of the rumen microbial population. Although challenging, the application of meta-proteomics has potential for a more complete understanding of the rumen ecosystem than sequencing approaches alone. Here, we have implemented a meta-proteomic approach to determine the association between taxonomies of microbial sources of the most abundant proteins in the rumens of forage-fed dairy cows, with taxonomic abundances typical of those previously described by metagenomics. Reproducible proteome profiles were generated from rumen samples. The most highly abundant taxonomic phyla in the proteome were Bacteriodetes, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria, which corresponded with the most abundant taxonomic phyla determined from 16S rRNA studies. Meta-proteome data indicated differentiation between metabolic pathways of the most abundant phyla, which is in agreement with the concept of diversified niches within the rumen microbiota.

Numerous bacteria in the human gut microbiome remain unknown and/or have yet to be cultured. While collections of human gut bacteria have been published, few strains are accessible to the scientific community. We have therefore created a publicly available collection of bacterial strains isolated from the human gut. The Human intestinal Bacteria Collection (HiBC) (https://www.hibc.rwth-aachen.de) contains 340 strains representing 198 species within 29 families and 7 phyla, of which 29 previously unknown species are taxonomically described and named. These included two butyrate-producing species of Faecalibacterium and new dominant species associated with health and inflammatory bowel disease, Ruminococcoides intestinale and Blautia intestinihominis, respectively. Plasmids were prolific within the HiBC isolates, with almost half (46%) of strains containing plasmids, with a maximum of six within a strain. This included a broadly occurring plasmid (pBAC) that exists in three diverse forms across Bacteroidales species. Megaplasmids were identified within two strains, the pMMCAT megaplasmid is globally present within multiple Bacteroidales species. This collection of easily searchable and publicly available gut bacterial isolates will facilitate functional studies of the gut microbiome.