Characterization of isolates of Eisenbergiella tayi, a strictly anaerobic Gram-stain variable bacillus recovered from human clinical materials in Canada.

Eisenbergiella gen. nov. was proposed in 2014 to describe an obligate anaerobic, structurally Gram-positive but Gram-stain-negative-appearing bacillus recovered from the blood culture of an elderly Israeli man. Here, we describe features for eight blood culture isolates as well one appendix-derived isolate, recovered from seven patients located in two Canadian provinces, which by 16S rRNA gene sequencing, were identifiable as Eisenbergiella tayi, the sole validly- named species in this genus. After whole genome sequencing, isolates were found to be essentially identical (96.8-98.7% identity) to each other and to E. tayi DSM 26961T, after comparison using the ANIb tool and in silico DNA-DNA hydridization. All isolates were observed to have remarkably large genomes (7.1-8.3 Mb) with a G + C content of 46.5%-46.9%.