Identification of a novel alpha-proteobacterium causing bacteraemia in an immunocompetent patient.
An 89-year male with pyrexia and suspected bacteremia was admitted to hospital, where a Gram-negative rod was identified from blood culture. The organism was difficult to identify phenotypically and the resulting sequencing of a 559 bp section of the 16S rRNA gene did not have a high homology score (>97.0%) with any deposited GenBank accession numbers and hence was not able to be assigned to a species within any genus. Given that the isolate was a member of the alpha subclass of the Proteobacteria but did not fall into any of the known genera with more than 93.7% homology (Brucella, Rhizobium, Ochrobactrum, Agrobacterium), we believe this isolate to represent a novel alpha-proteobacterium, which was the cause of bacteraemia in this patient.
Xu
Jiru
J
Northern Ireland Public Health Laboratory, Department of Bacteriology, Belfast City Hospital, Belfast BT9 7AD, Northern Ireland, UK.
Moore
John E
JE
Millar
B Cherie
BC
Crowe
Mary
M
McClurg
Robert
R
Heaney
Liam G
LG
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D020561:Alphaproteobacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis
D012329:RNA, Bacterial