title: Isolation and antimicrobial susceptibilities of Chlamydial isolates from Western barred bandicoots.
abstract: A range of species of Chlamydiales have previously been detected in a variety of Australian marsupials, including koalas and western barred bandicoots. Thirty-seven ocular, urogenital, or nasal swabs were obtained from 21 wild western barred bandicoots. Chlamydia culture and antibiotic susceptibility testing were performed for cycloheximide-treated HEp-2 cells in 96-well microtiter plates. Chlamydia spp. were isolated from 11 specimens from 9 (42.8%) bandicoots. All isolates were identified as Chlamydiales by conventional PCR with 16S and 23S rRNA gene primers specific to Chlamydiales and were confirmed to be Chlamydia pneumoniae by a C. pneumoniae-specific ompA-based real-time PCR assay and 16S rRNA and 23S rRNA gene signature sequence analyses. The MICs of azithromycin, doxycycline, ciprofloxacin, and enrofloxacin for 10 C. pneumoniae isolates from these bandicoots ranged from 0.015 to 1 microg/ml, 0.25 to 1 microg/ml, 0.25 to 2 microg/ml, and 0.25 to 0.5 microg/ml, respectively. The MICs at which 90% of isolates were inhibited and the minimal bactericidal concentrations were within the ranges reported previously for human isolates of C. pneumoniae.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Diseases, State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center, 450 Clarkson Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA. swati.kumar@downstate.edu
authors.forename: Swati
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Andrei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kutlin
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Roblin
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kohlhoff
authors.forename: Tracey
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bodetti
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Timms
authors.forename: Margaret R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Hammerschlag
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001315:Australia; D002460:Cell Line; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D016993:Chlamydophila pneumoniae / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D002479:Inclusion Bodies / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008394:Marsupialia / Q000382:microbiology*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests / Q000379:methods; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D012338:RNA, Ribosomal, 23S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D012338:RNA, Ribosomal, 23S