Pelistega europaea gen. nov., sp. nov., a bacterium associated with respiratory disease in pigeons: taxonomic structure and phylogenetic allocation

Abstract

~Twenty-four strains isolated mainly from infected respiratory tracts of pigeons were characterized by an integrated genotypic and phenotypic approach. An extensive biochemical examination using conventional tests and several API microtest systems indicated that all isolates formed a phenotypically homogeneous taxon with a DNA G+C content between 42 and 43 mol%. Whole-cell protein and fatty acid analysis revealed an unexpected heterogeneity which was confirmed by DNA-DNA hybridizations. Four main genotypic sub-groups (genomovars) were delineated. 165 rDNA sequence analysis of a representative strain indicated that this taxon belongs to the beta-subclass of the Proteobacteria with Taylorella equigenitalis as its closest neighbour (about 94.8% similarity). A comparison of phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of both taxa suggested that the pigeon isolates represented a novel genus for which the name Pelistega is proposed. In the absence of differential phenotypic characteristics between the genomovars, it was preferred to include all of the isolates into a single species, Pelistega europaea, and strain LMG 10982 was selected as the type strain. The latter strain belongs to fatty acid cluster I and protein electrophoretic sub-group 1 , which comprise 13 and 5 isolates, respectively. It is not unlikely that the name P. eumpaea will be restricted in the future to organisms belonging to fatty acid cluster I , or even to protein electrophoretic sub-group 1 , upon discovery of differential diagnostic features.

Molecular characterization of the full-length 23S and 5S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes of Taylorella asinigenitalis

“…Lane 2, UK-1. RNAs were visualized by ethidium bromide staining based on the sequence information of nearly full-length 16S rDNA (9 species of 3 genera, Vandamme et al 1998; 7 species of 5 genera, Jang et al 2001), this is the first phylogenetic analysis of the genus Taylorella based on 23S rDNA sequence information. As demonstrated in Fig.…”

Molecular characterization of the non‐coding promoter and leader regions and full‐length 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene of Taylorella asinigenitalis

“…In the present study, a typical order of intercristronic tRNAs containing the 48 nucleotide spacer of 5′-16S rDNA-tRNA Ile (bp 2,914 -2,990; 77 bp in length) -tRNA Ala (bp 3,038 -3,113; 76 bp) was shown in the ISRs from UK-1. T. equigenitalis has already been demonstrated to belong to the β-subclass of the Proteobacteria, defined by Woese et al (1990) (Vandamme et al 1998). When Jang et al (2001) constructed a phylogenetic tree utilizing the sequences of nearly full-length 16S rDNA of T. asinigenitalis strain UCD-1 T , T. equigenitalis strain NCTC11184…”

Development of a new molecular detection method for Taylorella equigenitalis

“…* equigenitalis, which belongs to the β-Proteobacteria [1], is an important pathogen responsible for contagious equine metritis (CEM) [2,3]. CEM was first reported in England [4].…”