Name: Apibacter mensalis Praet et al. 2016

Category: Species

Proposed as: sp. nov.

Etymology: men.sa’lis. N.L. masc. adj. mensalis, of a table, because this gut bacterium and its host are using the same nutrients and thus share the same ‘dinner table’

Pronunciation, gender: men-SA-lis, masculine

Type strain: DSM 100903; LMG 28357; R-53146

See detailed strain information at

Conduct genome-based taxonomy at

16S rRNA gene: LN713847 Analyse FASTA

Valid publication: Praet J, Aerts M, Brandt ED, Meeus I, Smagghe G, Vandamme P. Apibacter mensalis sp. nov.: a rare member of the bumblebee gut microbiota. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2016; 66:1645-1651.

IJSEM list: Oren A, Garrity GM. Notification list. Notification that new names and new combinations have appeared in volume 66, part 4 of the IJSEM. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2016; 66:2467-2468.

Nomenclatural status: validly published under the ICNP

Taxonomic status: correct name

Risk group: 1

• Notes:
  • 😢 The terminology used by the authors is in line with many other taxonomic studies and does not negatively affect their main results; some improvements may nevertheless be possible. Using the term "phylogenetic data" (or equivalent) for sequence data is not advocated. Whether taxa can have "members" is debatable. See the LPSN phylogeny page for details. Publication: Göker M. What can genome analysis offer for bacteria? In: Bridge P, Smith D, Stackebrandt E (eds), Trends in the systematics of bacteria and fungi, CAB International, Wallingford, 2021, p. 255-281.
  • 🧬 The phylogenomic assignment score of this taxon is 0.17790 (N = 7).
  • 😷 The risk group for Germany has been imported on 2023-10-29. The full classification is: risk group = 1. — If in doubt, use the risk group given in the regulations for your country and, if these are not available, use the risk group given in the catalogue of the culture collection from which you have obtained or intend to obtain the strain.
  • 🎓 Name mentioned 3 times in PubMed until 2025-06-04.
  • 🧍 The phylogenetic position of this species was determined in a genome-scale analysis by García-López et al. (2019). Publication: Garcia-Lopez M, Meier-Kolthoff JP, Tindall BJ, Gronow S, Woyke T, Kyrpides NC, Hahnke RL, Goker M. Analysis of 1,000 Type-Strain Genomes Improves Taxonomic Classification of Bacteroidetes. Front Microbiol 2019; 10:2083.

Parent taxon: Apibacter Kwong and Moran 2016

Assigned by: Praet J, Aerts M, Brandt ED, Meeus I, Smagghe G, Vandamme P. Apibacter mensalis sp. nov.: a rare member of the bumblebee gut microbiota. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2016; 66:1645-1651.

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Record number: 794050