Abstract : During a study on the prevalence and diversity of campylobacteria in wild birds faecal samples in the city of Valdivia (South of Chile) 17 Gram-negative, curved rod isolates, were initially identified as Campylobacter lari by PCR-RFLP. Further identification by 16S rRNA sequence analysis revealed that they formed a distinct group in the genus Campylobacter. This unique position was confirmed by rpoB, atpA and cpn60 gene sequence analysis. The average nucleotide identity between the representative strain WBE38T and the type strain of the closest taxon Campylobacter lari subsp. concheus (LMG 11760) was 90.8%. The oxidase and urease activity of the novel isolates enabled them to be phenotypically differentiated from recognized Campylobacter species. Therefore, on the basis of phenotypic, genetic and genomic characterizations, this study clearly shows that these strains represent a novel species within the genus Campylobacter, for which the name Campylobacter ornithocola sp. nov. is proposed, with the type strain WBE38T (=CECT 9147T =LMG 29815T).
