Leptospira fainei sp. nov., isolated from pigs in Australia

Abstract

Pathogenic leptospires can be causative agents of reproductive problems in pigs. Cultures of uteri and kidneys from two pig herds in New South Wales and Victoria (Australia) yielded five strains identified as Leptospira on morphological and cultural grounds. Phenotypic characteristics (growth at 13 and 30 "C, growth in the presence of 8-azaguanine) were intermediate between those of pathogenic and saprophytic leptospires. No crossagglutination was observed with reference antisera representing the 24 pathogenic serogroups and the main saprophytic ones. Antiserum against one of the strains did not agglutinate reference strains representative of any serogroup. This provided evidence of a new serovar, designated hurstbridge. Genomic characterization of the five strains was achieved using five molecular approaches. Mapped restriction site polymorphisms in the rrs (165 rRNA) gene were not related to those of any reference strains. Arbitrarily primed PCR fingerprints suggested clonality of the five strains. The strains all showed an identical and unique PFGE profile. PCR, using primers specific for the rrs gene of pathogenic leptospires, amplified corresponding sequences from the strains. DNA-DNA hybridization (and reciprocal experiments) using the S1 nuclease/TCA method was performed between one of the strains and the reference strains of Leptospira species. The homology ranged from 0 to 36% (the latter being with Leptospira inadan thus satisfying the criterion of a new species, Leptospira fainei (type strain BUT 63. Phylogenetic analysis of 165 rRNA sequences showed that L. fainei and L. inadai formed a clade separate from the previously recognized 'saprophyte and ' pathogen ' clades.

Exilispira thermophila gen. nov., sp. nov., an anaerobic, thermophilic spirochaete isolated from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent chimney

“…Differential characteristics between strain RASEN T and other genera in the phylum Spirochaetes Data for strain RASEN T are from this study. Data for other genera were taken from Holt et al (1994), Paster et al (1991) and the following sources: Treponema (Norris et al, 2006;Smibert, 1984;Wyss et al, 2004;Nordhoff et al, 2005;, Spirochaeta (Leschine et al, 2006;Canale-Parola, 1984a, b;Hoover et al, 2003;Dröge et al, 2006), Borrelia (Caimono, 2006;Kelly, 1984;Güner et al, 2004;Masuzawa et al, 2001;Fukunaga et al, 1996;Richter et al, 2004;Le Fleche et al, 1997;Baranton et al, 1992;Canica et al, 1993;Wang et al, 1997;Karimi et al, 1979), Cristispira (Breznak, 1984), Brevinema (Defosse et al, 1995), Brachyspira (Stanton, 2006;Hampson & La, 2006) and Leptospira/Leptonema (Adler & Faine, 2006;Faine, 1984;Levett et al, 2006;Perolat et al, 1998;Ramadass et al, 1992). +, Positive; 2, negative; V, dependent on the species; ND, no data available.…”

Leptospira wolffii sp. nov., isolated from a human with suspected leptospirosis in Thailand

“…Phylogenetic analysis of the 17 species using the 16S rRNA gene has resulted in the broad classification of the species into pathogenic, saprophytic and intermediates (Perolat et al, 1998). Leptospira species are also divided serologically through the cross-reaction of cell antigens using the crossagglutinin absorption test (CAAT); over 200 serovars have been described for the genus (Levett, 2001).…”

“…There are currently 17 Leptospira species as delineated by DNA-DNA hybridization (Brenner et al, 1999;Levett et al, 2006;Perolat et al, 1998;Yasuda et al, 1987). Phylogenetic analysis of the 17 species using the 16S rRNA gene has resulted in the broad classification of the species into pathogenic, saprophytic and intermediates (Perolat et al, 1998).…”

Differentiation of leptospiral serovars by restriction endonucleases analysis

“…Serovars that are antigenically related have traditionally been grouped into serogroups. The phenotypic classification of leptospires has been replaced by a genotypic one that comprises of approximately 16 species for the entire Leptospira spp (Yasuda et al, 1987;Ramadass et al, 1992;Perolat et al, 1998;Brenner et al, 1999;Levett, 2001). The ABSTRACT.…”