Skip to main content
Journal of Clinical Microbiology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Microbiology
. 1994 Jul;32(7):1729–1732. doi: 10.1128/jcm.32.7.1729-1732.1994

Differentiation of Brevibacterium spp. encountered in clinical specimens.

G Funke 1, A Carlotti 1
PMCID: PMC263777  PMID: 7929766

Abstract

Forty-three strains belonging to the genus Brevibacterium which were encountered in clinical materials over 2 decades were compared with reference strains, including the type strains, of B. casei, B. epidermidis, B. mcbrellneri, B. iodinum, and B. linens. By means of carbohydrate assimilation tests (CATs) the 43 clinical isolates could be assigned to the species B. casei (n = 41) and B. epidermidis (n = 2). DNA-DNA hybridizations were performed for 20 clinical isolates and confirmed the species identification of the isolates. Cellular fatty acid profiles of all strains were determined and found to have less discriminative power than CATs. This is the first report indicating that most clinical Brevibacterium isolates are B. casei and that CATs provide an easy-to-perform method for species determination within the genus, thus avoiding nucleic acid techniques.

Full text

PDF
1729

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Anthony R. M., Noble W. C., Pitcher D. G. Characterization of aerobic non-lipophilic coryneforms from human feet. Clin Exp Dermatol. 1992 Mar;17(2):102–105. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2230.1992.tb00174.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Appelbaum P. C., Leathers D. J. Evaluation of the rapid NFT system for identification of gram-negative, nonfermenting rods. J Clin Microbiol. 1984 Oct;20(4):730–734. doi: 10.1128/jcm.20.4.730-734.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Barsotti O., Renaud F., Freney J., Benay G., Decoret D., Dumont J. Rapid isolation of DNA from Actinomyces. Ann Inst Pasteur Microbiol. 1987 Sep-Oct;138(5):529–536. doi: 10.1016/0769-2609(87)90038-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bernard K. A., Bellefeuille M., Ewan E. P. Cellular fatty acid composition as an adjunct to the identification of asporogenous, aerobic gram-positive rods. J Clin Microbiol. 1991 Jan;29(1):83–89. doi: 10.1128/jcm.29.1.83-89.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Carlotti A., Meugnier H., Pommier M. T., Villard J., Freney J. Chemotaxonomy and molecular taxonomy of some coryneform clinical isolates. Zentralbl Bakteriol. 1993 Feb;278(1):23–33. doi: 10.1016/s0934-8840(11)80276-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. 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]
  7. Gruner E., Pfyffer G. E., von Graevenitz A. Characterization of Brevibacterium spp. from clinical specimens. J Clin Microbiol. 1993 Jun;31(6):1408–1412. doi: 10.1128/jcm.31.6.1408-1412.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kates S. G., Nordstrom K. M., McGinley K. J., Leyden J. J. Microbial ecology of interdigital infections of toe web spaces. J Am Acad Dermatol. 1990 Apr;22(4):578–582. doi: 10.1016/0190-9622(90)70075-s. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Lina B., Carlotti A., Lesaint V., Devaux Y., Freney J., Fleurette J. Persistent bacteremia due to Brevibacterium species in an immunocompromised patient. Clin Infect Dis. 1994 Mar;18(3):487–488. doi: 10.1093/clinids/18.3.487. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. McBride M. E., Ellner K. M., Black H. S., Clarridge J. E., Wolf J. E. A new Brevibacterium sp. isolated from infected genital hair of patients with white piedra. J Med Microbiol. 1993 Oct;39(4):255–261. doi: 10.1099/00222615-39-4-255. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. McCaughey C., Damani N. N. Central venous line infection caused by Brevibacterium epidermidis. J Infect. 1991 Sep;23(2):211–212. doi: 10.1016/0163-4453(91)92451-a. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Pitcher D. G., Malnick H. Identification of Brevibacterium from clinical sources. J Clin Pathol. 1984 Dec;37(12):1395–1398. doi: 10.1136/jcp.37.12.1395. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Sharpe M. E., Law B. A., Phillips B. A., Pitcher D. G. Methanethiol production by coryneform bacteria: strains from dairy and human skin sources and Brevibacterium linens. J Gen Microbiol. 1977 Aug;101(2):345–349. doi: 10.1099/00221287-101-2-345. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Von Graevenitz A., Osterhout G., Dick J. Grouping of some clinically relevant gram-positive rods by automated fatty acid analysis. Diagnostic implications. APMIS. 1991 Feb;99(2):147–154. doi: 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1991.tb05132.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Clinical Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES