title: Classification of Brachyspira spp. isolated from Swedish dogs.
abstract: Brachyspira spp. were isolated from 21 of 32 sampled dogs (66%) in a colony of Swedish beagle dogs with a history of diarrhea and from 3 of 17 Swedish pet dogs (17%) with diarrhea. All Swedish isolates were weakly beta-hemolytic and gave a negative indole reaction. Eighty-eight percent showed negative alpha-galactosidase and hippurate reactions, but a positive beta-glucosidase reaction. Two isolates were hippurate positive with a negative beta-glucosidase reaction. One additional German isolate diverged by showing a positive indole reaction in combination with a positive hippurate reaction. Sequencing of 16S rDNA indicated that the hippurate-positive isolates belonged to the species Brachyspira pilosicoli. Four representative isolates were examined using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and compared with six reference strains and five porcine isolates of Brachyspira spp. The canine isolates clustered together in the PFGE analysis. Necropsy examination of a culture-positive B. pilosicoli colony-raised beagle dog revealed macro- and microscopical lesions of colitis with numerous spiral-shaped bacteria in the lumens of the crypts, in goblet cells and within the colonic epithelium.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Surgery, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Uppsala. Claes.Fellstrom@kirmed.slu.se
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fellström
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pettersson
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Zimmerman
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gunnarsson
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Feinstein
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D017400:Brachyspira / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003092:Colitis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D003106:Colon / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D004285:Dogs; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field / Q000662:veterinary; D007211:Indoles; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D013145:Spirochaetales Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D013548:Sweden
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D007211:Indoles; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S