Enterococcus Genome sequencing and assembly. Enterococcus

The enterococci are residents of the gastrointestinal tracts of a wide range of organisms, and have evolved along with the tree of life. The genus Enterococcus is diverse, and the number of known species has doubled in the last ten years, now tallying close to 50 members. We isolated enterococci from chicken manure collected from two locations in South Carolina, and among the species recovered were four novel Enterococcus species. Species novelty was confirmed by whole genome sequencing and comparison to the closest known Enterococcus, as well as by characterization of differential carbohydrate utilization patterns. We also uncovered unique phenotypes that each species possessed, and identified the genes responsible. We propose to formally name these new species Enterococcus cantabrigiae sp. nov., Enterococcus carolinensis sp. nov., Enterococcus clemsonensis sp. nov., and Enterococcus lowelii sp. nov.