Pavel Švec, Marc Vancanneyt, Ivo Sedláček, Sabri M. Naser, Cindy Snauwaert, Karen Lefebvre, Bart Hoste and Jean Swings

Three enterococci constituted two aberrant branches after numerical analysis of (GTG)5-PCR fingerprints: analogous patterns were found for two water isolates, strains W213 and W442T, and a separate position was found for an isolate from the gut of a termite, strain LMG 8895T. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis classified all three strains in the Enterococcus faecalis species group. Further analysis by sequence analysis of the house keeping gene encoding for phenylalanyl-tRNA synthase alpha subunit (pheS) and whole-cell protein analysis confirmed a distinct position for the two water isolates and the termite strain, respectively. Final DNA-DNA hybridization experiments and distinct phenotypic features between the strains studied and representatives of the E. faecalis species group confirmed a novel species status respectively for both water isolates, strains W213 and W442T, and for strain LMG 8895T. The names Enterococcus silesiacus sp. nov., with the type strain W442T (= CCM 7319T = LMG 23085T) and Enterococcus termitis sp. nov., with the type strain LMG 8895T (= CCM 7300T) are proposed for the new taxa.