Staphylococcus muscae, a New Species Isolated from Flies

Abstract

A new coagulase-negative species of the genus Staphylococcus, Staphylococcus muscae, is described on the basis of the results of a study of four strains that were isolated from flies. 16s rRNA sequences of the type strains of S . muscae, Staphylococcus schleiferi, and staphylococcus sciuri were determined and used, together with the corresponding sequences of Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis, for a comparative analysis. The new species is characterized taxonomically; this species is differentiated from the other novobiocin-susceptible staphylococci by its physiological and biochemical activities, cell wall composition, and levels of genetic relatedness. The type strain of this species is strain MB4 (= CCM 4175). (5,11,21,26). Most of the new species were isolated from animals; the exceptions were S . lugdunensis and S. schleiferi, which were isolated from humans. The descriptions of all 28 Staphylococcus species were based on studies of strains that were isolated from mammals, birds, and foodstuffs of animal origin.In this paper, we describe a new coagulase-negative species of staphylococci that was obtained from the body surfaces of flies. These organisms were found in about 7% of the flies caught in certain cow sheds but not on flies caught in human dwellings, stables, or piggeries (7). For this reason, this bacterium should be regarded as a transient rather than a resident on flies.In this report we present phenetic and molecular taxonomic data for a new species, Staphylococcus muscae. MATERIALS AND METHODSBacterial strains. Four strains were isolated from flies trapped in cow sheds; strains MB4T, (T = type strain), MB21, and MB50 were isolated from Stomoxys calcitrans, and strain MB30 was isolated from Musca domestica (7). The medium used for isolation was blood agar base no. 2 (Oxoid) supplemented with 5% defibrinated ovine blood. Nutrient agar (Oxoid) containing glucose (2%, wt/vol) and P agar (15) were used to propagate all of the isolates. Inocula for tests were prepared from 1-day cultures that were incubated at 37°C. All strains were stored as frozen suspensions in glycerol broth at -25°C (10) and also in a freezedried state.Methods. The procedures used for determining morphological, physiological, and biochemical characteristics have been described elsewhere (6). The type strains of the 14 novobiocin-susceptible Staphylococcus species (see Table 2) * Corresponding author. 97were obtained from the Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen (DSM), Braunschweig, Germany, the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), Rockville, Md., and the Czechoslovak Collection of Microorganisms (CCM), Brno, Czechoslovakia.Phage typing was carried out by using the method of Blair and Williams (1). We used 24 phages (25) for human Staphylococcus aureus strains, 12 phages (24) for bovine S. aureus strains, 4 experimental phages (2) for Staphylococcus intermedius strains, and 4 phages (9) for Staphylococcus hyicus strains.We used the methods described by Schleifer and Kandler (20) and Schleifer (18) for cel...

Recommended minimal standards for description of new staphylococcal species

“…Similarities between sequence pairs are determined, and an unrooted phylogenetic tree is constructed by using previously described methods. In the case of staphylococci, several methods have been used successfully by different authors (Hajek et al, 1992;Ludwig et al, 1990;Owen & Pitcher, 1985;Saitou & Nei, 1987;.…”

Phylogenetic Analyses of Staphylococcus Based on the 16S rDNA Sequence and Assignment of Clinical Isolates from Animals.

“…Each of these strains was grown on a trypticase soy agar plate incorporating 5% bovine blood under an atmosphere Thirty-six taxa (species and subspecies) of the genus Staphylococcus are listed in the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) catalogue, updated in June 1996. Four species and three subspecies of Staphylococcus have been added to the list of bacteria as newly-identified organisms from studies conducted in the 1990s [5,14,22,26,37,38,40]. Some of these studies employed sequence analyses of the ribosomal RNA gene (rDNA) or its transcript (rRNA) [14,40].…”

“…Four species and three subspecies of Staphylococcus have been added to the list of bacteria as newly-identified organisms from studies conducted in the 1990s [5,14,22,26,37,38,40]. Some of these studies employed sequence analyses of the ribosomal RNA gene (rDNA) or its transcript (rRNA) [14,40]. The importance of genetic relationships among bacterial species has been established, and rDNA analysis is the most effective method available for determining phylogenetic relationships as well as for identification of microorganisms, due to its reproducibility [29].…”

“…The sequences were aligned with each other and compared with the staphylococcal 16S rDNA sequences available in previously published papers [3,14,27,40] or in the DDBJ. The alignment was done from nucleotide residues 26 to 1,491, based on the Escherichia coli numbering system [4].…”

Staphylococcus lutrae sp. nov., a New Coagulase-Positive Species Isolated from Otters

“…One species, Staphylococcus muscae, is associated with flies (6). Although the genus Staphylococcus currently comprises more than 30 species, it appears likely that many other species, particularly species from different animal hosts, await discovery.…”