Identification of Clinical Isolates of Indole-Positive and Indole-Negative Klebsiella spp.

Biochemical methods employed to classify bacterial species have limitations and may have contributed to the taxonomic complexity recently reported for the genus Klebsiella. The objective of the present study was to apply a simple biochemical test panel to classify a collection of human Klebsiella isolates. We found that with only three additional tests, it is possible to place most isolates in a defined species. Analysis of a 512-bp sequence of the rpoB gene was used as the reference. A total of 16 conventional and 4 supplementary tests were used to evaluate 122 recent isolates identified as Klebsiella from 120 patients, isolated at the clinical laboratory of a university hospital in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Of these, 102 (84%) isolates were identified as Klebsiella pneumoniae or Klebsiella variicola, 19 (15%) as Klebsiella oxytoca, and 1 (1%) as Raoultella planticola. Enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus-PCR typing revealed a diversity of genotypes. rpoB gene sequencing confirmed the phenotypic identification and detected five K. variicola isolates among the K. pneumoniae/K. variicola group. Three additional tests that include growth at 10°C and histamine and d-melezitose assimilation should be considered essential tests for the typing of Klebsiella isolates

Time-based distribution of Staphylococcus saprophyticus pulsed field gel-electrophoresis clusters in community-acquired urinary tract infections

The epidemiology of urinary tract infections (UTI) by Staphylococcus saprophyticus has not been fully characterised and strain typing methods have not been validated for this agent. To evaluate whether epidemiological relationships exist between clusters of pulsed field gel-electrophoresis (PFGE) genotypes of S. saprophyticus from community-acquired UTI, a cross-sectional surveillance study was conducted in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In total, 32 (16%) female patients attending two walk-in clinics were culture-positive for S. saprophyticus. Five PFGE clusters were defined and evaluated against epidemiological data. The PFGE clusters were grouped in time, suggesting the existence of community point sources of S. saprophyticus. From these point sources, S. saprophyticus strains may spread among individuals

Whole-genome sequencing of alcaligenes faecalis HZ01, with potential to inhibit nontuberculous mycobacterial growth

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Brazil (finance code 001)Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics. South African Medical Research Council Centre for Tuberculosis Research. Department of Science and Innovation, National Research Foundation Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Tuberculosis Research. Cape Town, South Africa / Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Programa de Pós-graduação em Pesquisa Clínica e Doenças Infecciosas. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Genética Molecular de Microrganismos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.Liverpool John Moores University. Faculty of Engineering and Technology. Liverpool, UK.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil / Universidade do Estado do Pará. Instituto de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde. Pós-Graduação Biologia Parasitária na Amazônia. Belém, PA, Brazil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil / Universidade do Estado do Pará. Instituto de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde. Pós-Graduação Biologia Parasitária na Amazônia. Belém, PA, Brazil.Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro-Campus Macaé. Instituto de Química. Macaé, RJ, Brazil.Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. Instituto Biomédico. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.Alcaligenes faecalis is a Gram-negative rod that is ubiquitous in the environment and is an opportunistic human pathogen. Here, we report the whole-genome sequencing analysis of A. faecalis HZ01, which presents mycobacterial growth inhibitory activity and was isolated from a contaminated culture of Mycobacterium chubuense ATCC 27278

Molecular identification and typing of Mycobacterium massiliense isolated from postsurgical infections in Brazil

AbstractObjectiveOne hundred thirty-one cases of postsurgical infections were reported in Southern Region of Brazil between August 2007 and January 2008. Thirty-nine (29.8%) cases were studied; this report describes epidemiological findings, species identification, antimicrobial susceptibility and clonal diversity of rapidly growing mycobacteria isolated in this outbreak.MethodsAll 39 isolates were analyzed by Ziehl-Nielsen stained smear, bacterial culture and submitted to rpoB partial gene sequencing for identification. The isolates were also evaluated for their susceptibility to amikacin, cefoxitin, clarithromycin, ciprofloxacin, doxycycline, tobramycin and sulfamethoxazole.ResultsThirty-six isolates out of the confirmed cases were identified as Mycobacterium massiliense and the remaining three were identified as Mycobacterium abscessus, Mycobacterium chelonae and Mycobacterium fortuitum. All M. massiliense isolates were susceptible to amikacin (MIC90=8μg/mL) and clarithromycin (MIC90=0.25μg/mL) but resistant to cefoxitin, ciprofloxacin, doxycycline, tobramycin and sulfamethoxazole. Molecular analysis by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis clustered all 36 M. massiliense isolates and showed the same pattern (BRA 100) observed in three other outbreaks previously reported in Brazil.ConclusionsThese findings suggest a common source of infection for all patients and reinforce the hypotheses of spread of M. massiliense BRA100 in Brazilian hospital surgical environment in recent years

Acinetobacter soli as a Cause of Bloodstream Infection in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit▿

Acinetobacter soli is a new bacterial species described from forest soil. Five cases of bloodstream infection caused by A. soli clonal isolates are reported here for the first time. The patients were neonates admitted to an intensive care unit. This is a new neonatal pathogen with the potential to cause outbreaks