title: Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of some Moorella sp. strains isolated from canned foods.
abstract: Six anaerobic thermophilic strains isolated from various spoiled cans including fish soups and cooked meats were characterized using a polyphasic approach. These strains were closely related to Moorella thermoacetica or Moorella thermoautotrophica species. Except the spacer region between the 16S and the 23S rRNA genes, which exhibited two PCR profiles distinguishing both species, the genotypic and phylogenetic analyses grouped these isolates, the type strains, and all sequences of Moorella thermoacetica and Moorella thermoautotrophica species contained in the GenBank database within a unique cluster. Moreover, all 16S rDNA sequences shared two characteristic DNA fragments, which were highly specific of Moorella thermoacetica/Moorella thermoautotrophica strains. However, taken together, the phenotypic, physiological and genotypic methods were conflicting, and did not enable affiliation of the isolates with one or the other species. To our knowledge, this study represents the first report of characterization of Moorella species isolated from spoiled cans. These results and previous work, very strongly argue in favor of questioning the taxonomic status of the two species.
authors.affiliation: Centre National de Référence des Bactéries Anaérobies et du Botulisme, Institut Pasteur, 25 rue du Dr Roux, F-75724 Paris Cedex 15, France. jcarlier@pasteur.fr
authors.forename: Jean-Philippe
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Carlier
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bedora-Faure
mesh_terms: D001482:Base Composition; D001483:Base Sequence; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000032:analysis; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005519:Food Preservation; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer; D005227:Fatty Acids; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S