Staphylococcus xeri sp. nov., a haemolytic bacterium isolated from the nasal cavity’s discharge of a Cape ground squirrel (Xerus inauris)

Strain 17KM0847 ^T , isolated from the nasal discharge of a dead captive Cape ground squirrel ( Xerus inauris ), is a Gram-positive, oxidase-negative, catalase-positive and coagulase-negative coccoid bacterium. It grows under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions at 37 °C and tolerates up to 17.5% NaCl, and its colonies are smooth, convex and circular and exhibit complete staphylococcal α -haemolysis on sheep and horse blood agar. Phylogenomic analysis based on DNA alignment and amino-acid alignment obtained from the translated whole-genome sequence, along with comparisons of 16S rRNA and housekeeping genes ( hsp60 , dnaJ , rpoB , sodA , gap and tuf ), placed strain 17KM0847 ^T within the genus Staphylococcus , most closely related to species of Staphylococcus muscae , Staphylococcus microti , Staphylococcus rostri and Staphylococcus americanisciuri . The strain exhibited digital DNA–DNA hybridization (dDDH) values ≤22% and average nucleotide identity (ANI) values <78% to these closest relatives, well below the species-level delineation thresholds (70% dDDH; 95% ANI). Chemotaxonomic analysis identified diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol and an aminophospholipid as the major polar lipids. The cellular fatty acid profile was dominated by C _20 : 0 , iso -C _15 : 0 , C _16 : 0 and C _18 : 0 . The peptidoglycan contained type A3 α

-Lys–Gly ₄ - -Ser-Gly. Based on chemotaxonomic and genomic characteristics, strain 17KM0847 ^T (=DSM 120281 ^T ; =CCOS 2136 ^T ; =CCM 9521 ^T ) represents a novel species of the genus Staphylococcus , for which the name Staphylococcus xeri sp. nov. is proposed.