Pseudomonas putrefaciens as a cause of infection in humans.

Abstract

SYNOPSIS Pseudomonas putrefaciens, a strongly H2S-producing pseudomonad, was isolated from 10 human infections over a two-year period. In one patient the organism was repeatedly isolated from a phlegmone developing in the depth of a varicose leg ulcer. This is the first report on the occurrence of Ps. putrefaciens in humans outside the USA and the first to provide the detailed account of a clinical observation where the opportunistic pathogenic role of this unfamiliar organism has been sufficiently documented.Data are presented on the bacteriological properties and on the antibiotic sensitivity of Ps.putrefaciens.Although Pseudomonas aeruginosa is by far the most common pathogenic species of the genus Pseudomonas, several other species have recently attracted the attention of the clinical bacteriologist. Recognition of these species has long been hampered by the lack of a clear classification system for nonfermentative Gram-negative bacteria and by the considerable confusion in their nomenclature. Improvements in bacteriological methods and the increased incidence of opportunistic and nosocomial infections have stimulated interest in Pseudomonas species other than Ps. aeruginosa. Simple criteria for characterization of unusual Pseudomonas species have been presented in a series of well-documented papers (Gilardi, 1971(Gilardi, , 1972Von Graevenitz, 1973).Although easy to recognize because of its abundant hydrogen sulphide production, Ps. putrefaciens is one of the least well-known pseudomonads in medical bacteriology, and we have seen no mention of the isolation of this species in the European literature.The first human isolates of a nonfermenting, H2S-producing Gram-negative rod with polar flagellation were described by King in 1964, who gave them the provisional label 'lb'. In 1970, von Graevenitz and Simon reported 13 isolations of the same microorganism from different clinical speciRequests for reprints should be addressed to Professor J.

Base Composition, Size and Sequence Similarities of Genome Deoxyribonucleic Acids from Clinical Isolates of Pseudomonas putrefaciens

“…The estimation of degrees of DNA-DNA binding from the spectrophotometric measurement of renaturation rates has been used in relatively few taxonomic studies even though the method compares favourably in its accuracy and reproducibility with other reassociation techniques (Gibbins & Gregory, 1972;Bradley, 1973 ;Martini & Phaff, 1973;Crombach, 1974a;Swings & De Ley, 1975). We found the method convenient because it did not need isotopically labelled DNA, any combination of cross-reactions between DNAs from different strains could be tested (reducing the likelihood of selecting an aberrant reference strain), and genome sizes could be estimated.…”

Shewanella dokdonensis sp. nov., isolated from seawater

“…At the time of writing, the genus Shewanella comprised 56 recognized species, most of which have been isolated from marine environments, such as seawater, marine sediments or sand, tidal flats or marine invertebrates and fish (Bowman et al, 1997;Bozal et al, 2002;Brettar et al, 2002; Gao et al, 2006;Gram et al, 1987;Gram & Huss, 1996;Hirota et al, 2005;Ivanova et al, 2001Ivanova et al, , 2003a Ivanova et al, , b, 2004aKim et al, 2007;Lee et al, 2006;Leonardo et al, 1999;Makemson et al, 1997;Miyazaki et al, 2006;Myers & Nealson, 1988;Nealson et al, 1991;Nogi et al, 1998; Pankaj et al, 2011;Park et al, 2009;Satomi et al, 2003Satomi et al, , 2006Satomi et al, , 2007Simidu et al, 1990; Stenström & Molin, 1990;Sucharita et al, 2009; Toffin et al, 2004;Xiao et al, 2007;Yang et al, 2006Yang et al, , 2007 Yoon et al, 2004a, b;Zhao et al, 2005Zhao et al, , 2006Zhao et al, , 2007Ziemke et al, 1998). Some species of the genus Shewanella have, however, been isolated from estuarine (Skerratt et al, 2002; Venkateswaran et al, 1998Venkateswaran et al, , 1999 or clinical samples (Brink et al, 1995;Debois et al, 1975;Holmes et al, 1975;Levin, 1972;Nozue et al, 1992), oilfield fluids (Semple & Westlake, 1987), activate...…”

Shewanella haliotis sp. nov., isolated from the gut microflora of abalone, Haliotis discus hannai

“…At the time of writing, the genus Shewanella comprised 45 recognized species (http://www.bacterio.-cict.fr/s/shewanella.html). Strains of the genus Shewanella have been isolated from a variety of sources including marine environments (Venkateswaran et al, 1998;Nealson et al, 1991;Nogi et al, 1998;Ivanova et al, 2001Ivanova et al, , 2004aBozal et al, 2002;Skerratt et al, 2002;Yoon et al, 2004b;Gram et al, 1987;Stenstrom & Molin, 1990;Gram & Huss, 1996;Satomi et al, 2006Satomi et al, , 2007Lee et al, 2006;Satomi et al, 2003;Simidu et al, 1990;Yang et al, 2006), sediments (Myers & Nealson, 1988;Venkateswaran et al, 1999;Toffin et al, 2004;Yoon et al, 2004a;Gao et al, 2006;Zhao et al, 2005Zhao et al, , 2006Miyazaki et al, 2006;Xiao et al, 2007;Yang et al, 2007), clinical samples (Brink et al, 1995;Nozue et al, 1992;Levin, 1972;Debois et al, 1975;Holmes et al, 1975), oilfield fluids (Semple & Westlake, 1987) and activated sludge (Xu et al, 2005). They have also been implicated as opportunistic pathogens of humans and aquatic animals (Aguirre et al, 1994;Brink et al, 1995) and as the causal agents of proteinaceous food spoilage (Jorgensen & Huß, 1989).…”