Marc Lecuit

During microbial assessment of cow milk cheese products in the city of Ilorin, Nigeria, a Listeria -like isolate was detected that could not be assigned to any known species. Whole-genome sequence analyses against all currently known 26 Listeria species confirmed that this isolate constitutes a new taxon within the genus Listeria , with highest similarity to Listeria costaricensis (average nucleotide identity blast of 82.66%, in silico DNA–DNA hybridization of 28.3%). Phenotypically, it differs from L. costaricensis by the inability to ferment sucrose, l -fucose and starch. The absence of haemolysis and Listeria pathogenic islands suggest that this novel species is not pathogenic for humans and animals. The name Listeria ilorinensis sp. nov. is proposed, with the type strain CLIP 2019/01311 T (=CIP 111875 T =DSM 111566 T ).