Bombella pluederhausensis sp. nov., Bombella pollinis sp. nov., Bombella saccharophila sp. nov. and Bombella dulcis sp. nov., four Bombella species isolated from the environment of the western honey bee Apis mellifera .

Four strains of members of the genus were isolated from samples associated with the western honey bee , which could not be assigned to a species with a validly published name. Strains TMW 2.2543, TMW 2.2556, TMW 2.2558 and TMW 2.2559 exhibit DNA-DNA hybridisation (isDDH) and orthologous average nucleotide identity (orthoANI) values below species delineation thresholds compared with all described species of the genus and with each other. TMW 2.2556 and TMW 2.2558 form their own clade within the genus. The major respiratory quinone of all strains was Q-10. The composition of cellular fatty acids was diverse between strains. All strains stained Gram-negative, were rod-shaped, strictly aerobic, pellicle-forming, catalase-positive, oxidase-negative, mesophilic and grew over a wide pH range; they were halosensitive but glucose-tolerant. Unlike the other studied strains, TMW 2.2558 was non-motile. Phylogenetic, chemotaxonomic and physiological analyses revealed a clear distinction between all the strains and species with validly published names. All the data support the proposition of four novel species within the genus , namely sp. nov., sp. nov., sp. nov. and sp. nov., with the respective type strains sp. nov. TMW 2.2543 (= DSM 114872, = LMG 32791), sp. nov. TMW 2.2556 (= DSM 114874, = LMG 32792), sp. nov. TMW 2.2558 (= DSM 114875, = LMG 32793) and sp. nov. TMW 2.2559 (= DSM 114877, = LMG 32794). Moreover, three genomes available in the NCBI database that have not yet been described as species with validly published names could be assigned to the proposed species. sp. ESL0378 and sp. ESL0385 to sp. nov. and sp. AS1 to sp. nov.