Summary auto-generated
This study describes Staphylococcus delphini, a new coagulase-positive Staphylococcus species isolated from two dolphins with purulent skin lesions in an aquarium. The two strains, designated Heidy (type strain) and Nono, were recovered in 1975 and characterized using DNA-DNA hybridization, cell wall composition analysis, biochemical testing, and penicillin-binding protein profiling. S. delphini is gram-positive, catalase-positive, and coagulates rabbit, pig, bovine, and human plasmas. It differs from other coagulase-positive species (S. aureus, S. intermedius, S. hyicus) in its unique two-band penicillin-binding protein profile, bacteriolytic activity pattern requiring 2.0-3.0% NaCl (higher than related species), and elevated DNA G+C content of approximately 39 mol%. DNA-DNA hybridization showed the two dolphin strains were highly related to each other but distinct from all tested Staphylococcus species. The bacteria produced various enzymes including phosphatase and weak deoxyribonuclease, were susceptible to common antistaphylococcal antibiotics and lysostaphin, and harbored a single small plasmid. This represents the first documented Staphylococcus isolation from cetaceans.
Key findings
- Staphylococcus delphini is a new coagulase-positive Staphylococcus species isolated from dolphins with skin infections, representing the first Staphylococcus described from cetaceans
- S. delphini is distinguished from related coagulase-positive species by its unique two-band penicillin-binding protein profile, elevated optimal salt concentration for bacteriolytic activity (2.0-3.0%), and higher DNA G+C content (~39 mol%)
- DNA-DNA hybridization demonstrated the two dolphin strains were highly related to each other but showed low homology with all other tested Staphylococcus species, confirming their distinct taxonomic position
- S. delphini produces coagulase, phosphatase, and weak heat-labile deoxyribonuclease, is susceptible to lysostaphin and novobiocin, and shows susceptibility to most common antistaphylococcal antibiotics
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Abstract
A new coagulase-positive species of the genus Staphylococcus, Staphylococcus delphini, is described on the basis of a study of two strains isolated from purulent skin lesions of dolphins. The new species is established and differentiated from the other coagulase-positive Staphylococcus species primarily on the basis of its deoxyribonucleic acid-deoxyribonucleic acid hybridization relationships, its cell wall composition, its bacteriolytic activity pattern, its penicillin-binding protein profile, its biochemical reactions, and the relatively high guanine-plus-cytosine content of its deoxyribonucleic acid. The type strain is strain Heidy (= DSM 20771).