The taxonomic status of nine typical and atypical Lactobacillus sake and Lactobacillus curvatus strains associated with vacuum-packaged meat spoilage was investigated by DNA-DNA homology and compared with four alternative identification methods. Phenotype-based identification methods as well as 23S rRNA targeted probes produced ambiguous results in the case of atypical strains. DNA-DNA hybridization indicated homologies of 63-78% between typical strains and the corresponding type strain, whereas values ranged from 38% to 54% for atypical strains. This apparent spectrum of relatedness observed was ascribed to the recent phylogenetic divergence of the two species. Atypical strains should,therefore, be designated as such and not assigned to particular species based on results of identification methods other than DNA-DNA hybridization