SGM Journals
Proteobacteria

Campylobacter fetus subsp. testudinum subsp. nov., isolated from humans and reptiles

Collette Fitzgerald, Zheng chao Tu, Mary Patrick, Tracy Stiles, Andy J. Lawson, Monica Santovenia, Maarten J. Gilbert, Marcel van Bergen, Kevin Joyce, Janet Pruckler, Steven Stroika, Birgitta Duim, William G. Miller, Vladimir Loparev, Jan C. Sinnige, Patricia I. Fields, Robert V. Tauxe, Martin J. Blaser, Jaap A. Wagenaar

  • 1Biotechnology Core Facility Branch, Division of Scientific Resources, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, CDC, Atlanta, GA, USA
  • 2Department of Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, 550 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA
  • 3Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Jamaica Plain, MA, USA
  • 4Public Health England, London, UK
  • 5Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
  • 6WHO Collaborating Center for Campylobacter/OIE Reference Laboratory for Campylobacteriosis, Utrecht, The Netherlands
  • 7Central Veterinary Institute of Wageningen UR, Lelystad, The Netherlands
  • 8USDA, ARS, WRRC, Produce Safety and Microbiology Research Unit, Albany, CA, USA
  • 9Department of Medical Microbiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
  • Correspondence
    Collette Fitzgerald chf3{at}cdc.gov

    • International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology 2014; 64(Pt 9):2944–2948 · https://doi.org/10.1099/ijs.0.057778-0

    View at publisher PubMed

    Abstract

    A polyphasic study was undertaken to determine the taxonomic position of 13 Campylobacter fetus-like strains from humans (n = 8) and reptiles (n = 5). The results of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) MS and genomic data from sap analysis, 16S rRNA gene and hsp60 sequence comparison, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis, DNA–DNA hybridization and whole genome sequencing demonstrated that these strains are closely related to C. fetus but clearly differentiated from recognized subspecies of C. fetus. Therefore, this unique cluster of 13 strains represents a novel subspecies within the species C. fetus, for which the name Campylobacter fetus subsp. testudinum subsp. nov. is proposed, with strain 03-427T ( = ATCC BAA-2539T = LMG 27499T) as the type strain. Although this novel taxon could not be differentiated from C. fetus subsp. fetus and C. fetus subsp. venerealis using conventional phenotypic tests, MALDI-TOF MS revealed the presence of multiple phenotypic biomarkers which distinguish Campylobacter fetus subsp. testudinum subsp. nov. from recognized subspecies of C. fetus.

    • The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession numbers for the 16S rRNA gene sequences of strains ATCC 49616T, CCUG 56292T, ATCC 33559T, ATCC 33237T, ATCC 35224T and ATCC 27374T are JX912503–JX912508, respectively, and of strains D4355, D6659, D6856, D6683, ATCC 19438T, ATCC 33236T, ATCC 51209T, ATCC 35217T, CCUG 48653T, ATCC 33560T, NCTC 13004T, CCUG 55786T, ATCC 35221T, ATCC 43264T, ATCC 33238T, ATCC 51146T, ATCC 35980T and NCTC 11541T are JX912510–JX912527, respectively.

    • Disclaimer: Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the CDC or by the US Department of Health and Human Services.

    • Two supplementary tables and six supplementary figures are available with the online version of this paper.

    Abbreviations:
    AFLP
    amplified fragment length polymorphism
    MALDI-TOF
    matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight
    PFGE
    pulsed-field gel electrophoresis