Streptobacillus hongkongensis sp. nov., isolated from patients with quinsy and septic arthritis, and emended descriptions of the genus Streptobacillus and Streptobacillus moniliformis

Abstract

Two bacterial strains, HKU33 T and HKU34, were isolated in Hong Kong from the pus aspirated from the right peritonsillar abscess of a patient with quinsy and the left elbow joint fluid of another patient with tophaceous gout and left elbow septic arthritis, respectively. The bacteria were Gramstain-negative, non-motile, non-spore-forming, non-haemolytic pleomorphic bacilli. They grew best on Columbia agar with 5 % defibrinated sheep blood in an anaerobic environment or aerobic environment with 5 % CO 2 . They also grew on chocolate agar but not on MacConkey agar. They were catalase-and cytochrome oxidase-negative. They showed a unique profile of enzyme activities distinguishable from their closely related species. Phylogenetic analysis of the complete 16S rRNA gene, and partial groEL, gyrB and recA gene sequences showed the two isolates formed a distinct branch within the family Leptotrichiaceae, being related most closely to Streptobacillus moniliformis. Hierarchical cluster analysis of mass spectra of whole-cell protein contents showed that strains HKU33 T and HKU34 were closely related to each other, but were distinct from Streptobacillus moniliformis, Sneathia sanguinegens and 'Leptotrichia amnionii'. The DNA G+C content of strain HKU33 T was 26.0±2.1 mol% (mean±SD; n53). DNA-DNA hybridization demonstrated ¡45.02 % DNA relatedness between the two isolates and Streptobacillus moniliformis CCUG 13453 T . A novel species, Streptobacillus hongkongensis sp. nov., is proposed to accommodate strains HKU33 T and HKU34, with HKU33 T (5JCM 18691 T 5NCTC 13659 T 5DSM 26322 T ) designated the type strain. Emended descriptions of the genus Streptobacillus and Streptobacillus moniliformis are also given.

Tsukamurella hongkongensis sp. nov. and Tsukamurella sinensis sp. nov., isolated from patients with keratitis, catheter-related bacteraemia and conjunctivitis

“…T and HKU53 and all reference strains were performed using the dot-blot method with reagents including ULTRAhyb ultrasensitive hybridization buffer (Ambion), DIG-High Prime DNA labelling (Roche Diagnostics), DIG wash and block buffers, anti-DIG-AP and CDP-Star (Roche Diagnostics) as described previously (Woo et al, 2014). DNA-DNA hybridization was performed at 42 8C in triplicate for each of the probes used.…”

Gordonia Species as Emerging Causes of Continuous-Ambulatory-Peritoneal-Dialysis-Related Peritonitis Identified by 16S rRNA and secA1 Gene Sequencing and Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization–Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS)

“…Bacterial DNA extraction, PCR amplification, and DNA sequencing of the 16S rRNA and secA1 genes were performed according to our previous publication (7), except for the primer pairs used (G268F/G1096R [8] for the 16S rRNA gene and SecA1-f/SecA1-r [9] for the secA1 gene). Comparative sequence identity analysis and phylogenetic analysis using the maximum likelihood method were performed according to our previous publication (10), except that MEGA 6.06 (11) was used instead. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) was performed according to our previous publication (12), and the protein profiles obtained were processed and analyzed using MALDI Biotyper 3.1 (Bruker Daltonics, Germany) for the generation of the hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) dendrogram and for identification.…”

Approved and novel strategies in diagnostics of rat bite fever and otherStreptobacillusinfections in humans and animals

“…32,37,[59][60][61][62][63] It could recently be shown that the natural reservoir for the very rare cases of human S. hongkongensis infection known to date is indeed the human oropharynx à and presumably not an unidentified animal or environmental reservoir. 49 Despite a certain amount of annually published case reports, most of which have solely used 16S rRNA sequencing alone for definite diagnosis, there has not been much progress in the diagnosis of acute clinical cases of RBF in the last decades. Moreover, as pointed out earlier, 16S rRNA sequencing alone may be insufficient for unequivocally determining the involved pathogen to species level.…”

“…[43][44][45][46][47][48] After the genus Streptobacillus was held monotypic for almost a century, a second species, S. hongkongensis, has been isolated from 2 humans with peritonsillar abscess and septic arthritis. 49 Recently, a third species was isolated from the lungs of a cat with pneumonia 50 which has been described as S. felis. 51 Some other isolates formerly assigned to S. moniliformis exist, from which S. notomytis from a spinifex hopping mouse (Notomys alexis) and from black rats (Rattus rattus) and S. ratti from an asymptomatically colonized black rat were recently described.…”

“…2,4 Suboptimal growth at least for some strains of S. moniliformis and S. hongkongensis can still be detected in an aerobic and anaerobic atmosphere. 26,49,70 Isolates from guinea pigs were historically associated with S. moniliformis and reported to grow under strictly anaerobic conditions. 64 Investigations in our lab have now shown that these strains from guinea pigs are indeed obligate anaerobes and now form a novel taxon, Caviibacter abscessus, within the family Leptotrichiaceae.…”