Abstract
We studied 12 coryneform isolates having similar biochemical profiles which did not permit their assignment to any recognized taxa. Human semen was the source for seven of these strains, whereas the other strains were isolated from urethra, urine, and blood specimens of adult male patients. These bacteria were found in significant quantities (10(4) to 10(5) CFU/ml) in semen specimens from infertile male patients with the diagnosis of prostatitis. These strains had characteristics of the genus Corynebacterium, such as 60 mol% G + C in the DNA and corynemycolic acids, meso-diaminopimelic acid, arabinose, and galactose in the cell wall. Quantitative DNA-DNA hybridizations (S1 nuclease procedure) and phylogenies based on comparisons of almost-complete small-subunit ribosomal DNA sequences confirmed that these strains constitute a single new species within the genus Corynebacterium. All 12 strains showed similar phenotypic features, i.e., good growth on sheep blood agar in contrast with poor growth on the same medium supplemented with 1% Tween 80, a positive CAMP test in the presence of Staphylococcus aureus, glucose and sucrose fermentation, and the presence of beta-glucuronidase. Some strains reduced nitrate and hydrolyzed urea or esculin. These features allowed us to distinguish these strains from members of any other coryneform taxon, and the proposed name is Corynebacterium seminale with strain IBS B12915 (CIP 104297) as the type strain. The description and delineation of these strains as a new species should be useful for further studies, including evaluations of their prevalence among the normal flora and their clinical implications.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (277.8 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Bauer A. W., Kirby W. M., Sherris J. C., Turck M. Antibiotic susceptibility testing by a standardized single disk method. Am J Clin Pathol. 1966 Apr;45(4):493–496. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Coyle M. B., Lipsky B. A. Coryneform bacteria in infectious diseases: clinical and laboratory aspects. Clin Microbiol Rev. 1990 Jul;3(3):227–246. doi: 10.1128/cmr.3.3.227. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- De Briel D., Couderc F., Riegel P., Jehl F., Minck R. High-performance liquid chromatography of corynomycolic acids as a tool in identification of Corynebacterium species and related organisms. J Clin Microbiol. 1992 Jun;30(6):1407–1417. doi: 10.1128/jcm.30.6.1407-1417.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Funke G., Stubbs S., Altwegg M., Carlotti A., Collins M. D. Turicella otitidis gen. nov., sp. nov., a coryneform bacterium isolated from patients with otitis media. Int J Syst Bacteriol. 1994 Apr;44(2):270–273. doi: 10.1099/00207713-44-2-270. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gehrke C. W., McCune R. A., Gama-Sosa M. A., Ehrlich M., Kuo K. C. Quantitative reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography of major and modified nucleosides in DNA. J Chromatogr. 1984 Sep 28;301(1):199–219. doi: 10.1016/s0021-9673(01)89189-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Granouillet R., Gaudin O. G., Laurent J. C., Rousset H., Moulin A. Etude de la flore microbienne spermatique chez des patients consultant pour stérilité. Sem Hop. 1982 May 6;58(18):1129–1133. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Peladan F., Turlot J. C., Monteil H. Discriminant analysis of volatile fatty acids produced in culture medium: a novel approach to the identification of Pseudomonas species. J Gen Microbiol. 1984 Dec;130(12):3175–3182. doi: 10.1099/00221287-130-12-3175. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Riegel P., de Briel D., Prévost G., Jehl F., Monteil H. Genomic diversity among Corynebacterium jeikeium strains and comparison with biochemical characteristics and antimicrobial susceptibilities. J Clin Microbiol. 1994 Aug;32(8):1860–1865. doi: 10.1128/jcm.32.8.1860-1865.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Ruimy R., Boiron P., Boivin V., Christen R. A phylogeny of the genus Nocardia deduced from the analysis of small-subunit ribosomal DNA sequences, including transfer of Nocardia amarae to the genus Gordona as Gordona amarae comb. nov. FEMS Microbiol Lett. 1994 Nov 1;123(3):261–267. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1994.tb07234.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Ruimy R., Breittmayer V., Elbaze P., Lafay B., Boussemart O., Gauthier M., Christen R. Phylogenetic analysis and assessment of the genera Vibrio, Photobacterium, Aeromonas, and Plesiomonas deduced from small-subunit rRNA sequences. Int J Syst Bacteriol. 1994 Jul;44(3):416–426. doi: 10.1099/00207713-44-3-416. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Saitou N., Nei M. The neighbor-joining method: a new method for reconstructing phylogenetic trees. Mol Biol Evol. 1987 Jul;4(4):406–425. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a040454. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Staneck J. L., Roberts G. D. Simplified approach to identification of aerobic actinomycetes by thin-layer chromatography. Appl Microbiol. 1974 Aug;28(2):226–231. doi: 10.1128/am.28.2.226-231.1974. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- van der Walt J. P., Johannsen E. The dangeardien and its significance in the taxonomy of the ascomycetous yeasts. J Urol. 1974 May;111(5):630–636. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- von Graevenitz A., Pünter V., Gruner E., Pfyffer G. E., Funke G. Identification of coryneform and other gram-positive rods with several methods. APMIS. 1994 May;102(5):381–389. doi: 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1994.tb04887.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]