Vibrios are ubiquitous and abundant in the aquatic environment. A high abundance of vibrios is also detected in tissues and/or organs of various marine algae and animals, e.g., abalones, bivalves, corals, fish, shrimp, sponges, squid, and zooplankton. Vibrios harbour a wealth of diverse genomes as revealed by different genomic techniques including amplified fragment length polymorphism, multilocus sequence typing, repetetive extragenic palindrome PCR, ribotyping, and whole-genome sequencing. The 74 species of this group are distributed among four different families, i.e., Enterovibrionaceae, Photobacteriaceae, Salinivibrionaceae, and Vibrionaceae. Two new genera, i.e., Enterovibrio norvegicus and Grimontia hollisae, and 20 novel species, i.e., Enterovibrio coralii, Photobacterium eurosenbergii, V. brasiliensis, V. chagasii, V. coralliillyticus, V. crassostreae, V. fortis, V. gallicus, V. hepatarius, V. hispanicus, V. kanaloaei, V. neonatus, V. neptunius, V. pomeroyi, V. pacinii, V. rotiferianus, V. superstes, V. tasmaniensis, V. ezurae, and V. xuii, have been described in the last few years. Comparative genome analyses have already revealed a variety of genomic events, including mutations, chromosomal rearrangements, loss of genes by decay or deletion, and gene acquisitions through duplication or horizontal transfer (e.g., in the acquisition of bacteriophages, pathogenicity islands, and super-integrons), that are probably important driving forces in the evolution and speciation of vibrios. Whole-genome sequencing and comparative genomics through the application of, e.g., microarrays will facilitate the investigation of the gene repertoire at the species level. Based on such new genomic information, the taxonomy and the species concept for vibrios will be reviewed in the next years

A method for detecting multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis by using a reduction of resazurin is described. Eighty clinical isolates were evaluated against isoniazid and rifampin; results at 7 days were compared with those of the proportion method. Specificity and sensitivity were excellent. The method is simple, inexpensive, and rapid and might be used with other antituberculosis drugs.Multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB), defined as resistance to isoniazid (INH) and rifampin (RIF), is a severe problem for TB control. Recent reports document the global emergence of highly resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains, particularly in countries of Eastern Europe (7, 36). The emergence of MDR TB highlights the need for drug susceptibility testing (DST), patient management, and drug resistance surveillance. Early diagnosis is essential for starting an effective treatment regimen and reducing its transmission in the population.In countries with low resources, DST involves conventional culture methods with Löwenstein-Jensen (L-J) and Middlebrook agars and requires 3 to 6 weeks to yield results (1, 2, 16). Faster methods which use liquid media, such as the BACTEC radiometric method and the mycobacteria growth indicator tube method, require radioisotopes (27, 28), expensive equipment and media, or commercial products not always available in most developing countries (34). Recently, molecular methods for rapid detection of drug resistance have appeared (6,30,31,35). However, their costs and the requirement for equipment and skilled personnel have precluded their routine implementation in countries with low resources.Colorimetric assays employing oxidation-reduction indicators for DST have been previously used with mycobacteria (11,21,38). A simple method employing Alamar blue for DST of M. tuberculosis was recently described (23). Resazurin, an oxidation-reduction indicator, has been used to assess viability and bacterial contamination and to test for antimicrobial activity (3,17,29). Since Alamar blue has been recently identified as resazurin in cell cytotoxicity studies (22), we have standardized and evaluated a microplate method which uses the reduction of resazurin for DST to INH and RIF in clinical isolates of M. tuberculosis from low-income countries. The results were compared to those of the proportion method (PM) on L-J medium.Eighty clinical isolates were studied: 65 from TB patients from a region of Peru with a high prevalence of MDR TB and 15 from the Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory at the Instituto Nacional de Laboratorios de Salud, La Paz, Bolivia. American Type Culture Collection (Manassas, Va.) reference strains were used as controls. INH and RIF (Sigma-Aldrich NV/SA, Bornem, Belgium) solutions were prepared at concentrations of 1 mg/ml in distilled water and 10 mg/ml in methanol, respectively, filter sterilized, and frozen until used. Resazurin sodium salt powder (Acros Organic N.V., Geel, Belgium) was prepared at 0.01% (wt/vol) in distilled water and filter sterilized; it can be store...

There is no widely accepted concept of species for prokaryotes, and assignment of isolates to species is based on measures of phenotypic or genome similarity. The current methods for defining prokaryotic species are inadequate and incapable of keeping pace with the levels of diversity that are being uncovered in nature. Prokaryotic taxonomy is being influenced by advances in microbial population genetics, ecology and genomics, and by the ease with which sequence data can be obtained. Here, we review the classical approaches to prokaryotic species definition and discuss the current and future impact of multilocus nucleotide-sequence-based approaches to prokaryotic systematics. We also consider the potential, and difficulties, of assigning species status to biologically or ecologically meaningful sequence clusters.

A comprehensive DNA-DNA hybridization study was performed by using 183 strains of the genus Xanthomonus. This genus was shown to comprise 20 DNA homology groups which are considered genomic species. Four groups corresponded to the previously described species Xanthomonas albilineans, Xanthomonas fiagariae, Xanthomonas oryzae, and Xanthomonas populi. The previously described species Xanthomonas campestris was heterogeneous and was divided into 16 DNA homology groups. One of these groups exhibited a high level of DNA homology with Xanthomonas axonopodis. The 62 pathovars represented in this study were. allocated to appropriate species. Our results, together with previous taxonomic data, supported a comprehensive revision of the classification of the genus Xanthomonas. The species X. albilineans, X. jiagarke, X. oryme, and X. populi are not affected. The type species of the genus,X. campestris (Pammell895) Dowson 1939, is emended to include only the pathovars obtained from crucifers (i.e., X. campestris pv. aberrans, X. campestris pv. armoraciae, X. campestris pv. barbareae, X. campestris pv. campestris, X. campestris pv. incanae, and X. campestris pv. raphani). vesicatoria. Differentiating characteristics were determined for the new species on the basis of metabolic activity on a range of carbon substrates by using the Biolog GN microplate system. X. axonopodisIn the past, the taxonomy of bacteria has been dominated by a phenetic approach, and many classification systems have been and still are based on what were thought to be important phenotypic properties. The taxonomy of the genus Xanthomonas has followed this tendency in that a single phenotypic feature, host specificity, has determined the classification of the genus. Since the first report of a xanthomonad (55) until 1974, it was common practice to define a plant-pathogenic xanthomonad isolated from a new host plant as a new Xanthomonas species. The unreasonable number of nomenspecies resulting from this practice was drastically reduced by Dye and Lelliott (19), who justified their reclassification by referring to the impossibility of differentiating nomenspecies by any feature other than host specificity (10,17). Later, names of former nomenspecies were preserved in a special-purpose classification (18) as Xanthomonas campestris pathovar names.The original classification of the genus Xanthomonas, in which all of the phytopathological variants of X campestris were recognized as separate species, was not sound taxonomically. With the exception of the ambiguous feature of host specificity, few biochemical and phenotypic characteristics were used to differentiate the species. In the last few years, * Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratorium voor Microbiologie, Universiteit Gent, Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.workers have provided evidence that the current classification, in whichX. campestris contains more than 140 pathovars, is not a reflection of genomic relationships. The first DNA hybridization experiments performed with Xanthomonas...