title: Identification of Pandoraea species by 16S ribosomal DNA-based PCR assays.
abstract: The recently described genus Pandoraea contains five named species (Pandoraea apista, Pandoraea pulmonicola, Pandoraea pnomenusa, Pandoraea sputorum, and Pandoraea norimbergensis) and four unnamed genomospecies. Pandoraea spp. have mainly been recovered from the respiratory tracts of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Accurate genus- and species-level identification by routine clinical microbiology methods is difficult, and differentiation from Burkholderia cepacia complex organisms may be especially problematic. This can have important consequences for the management of CF patients. On the basis of 16S ribosomal DNA sequences, PCR assays for the identification of Pandoraea spp. were developed. A first PCR assay was developed for the identification of Pandoraea isolates to the genus level. PCR assays for the identification of P. apista and P. pulmonicola as a group, P. pnomenusa, P. sputorum, and P. norimbergensis were also developed. All five assays were evaluated with a panel of 123 bacterial isolates that included 69 Pandoraea sp. strains, 24 B. cepacia complex strains, 6 Burkholderia gladioli strains, 9 Ralstonia sp. strains, 5 Alcaligenes xylosoxidans strains, 5 Stenotrophomonas maltophilia strains, and 5 Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains. The use of these PCR assays facilitates the identification of Pandoraea spp. and avoids the misidentification of a Pandoraea sp. as a B. cepacia complex isolate.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. tcoenye@umich.edu
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Coenye
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vandamme
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: LiPuma
mesh_terms: D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D020562:Betaproteobacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D003550:Cystic Fibrosis / Q000382:microbiology; D017931:DNA Primers; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000032:analysis*; D016905:Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S