title: Moraxella species are primarily responsible for generating malodor in laundry.
abstract: Many people in Japan often detect an unpleasant odor generated from laundry that is hung to dry indoors or when using their already-dried laundry. Such an odor is often described as a "wet-and-dirty-dustcloth-like malodor" or an "acidic or sweaty odor." In this study, we isolated the major microorganisms associated with such a malodor, the major component of which has been identified as 4-methyl-3-hexenoic acid (4M3H). The isolates were identified as Moraxella osloensis by morphological observation and biochemical and phylogenetic tree analyses. M. osloensis has the potential to generate 4M3H in laundry. The bacterium is known to cause opportunistic infections but has never been known to generate a malodor in clothes. We found that M. osloensis exists at a high frequency in various living environments, particularly in laundry in Japan. The bacterium showed a high tolerance to desiccation and UV light irradiation, providing one of the possible reasons why they survive in laundry during and even after drying.
authors.affiliation: Safety Science Research Laboratories, Kao Corporation, Tochigi, Japan. kubota.hiromi@kao.co.jp
authors.forename: Hiromi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kubota
authors.forename: Asako
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mitani
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Niwano
authors.forename: Kohei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: Yoshiaki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kawamura
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hitomi
mesh_terms: D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D002208:Caproates / Q000378:metabolism*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D003890:Desiccation; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D050296:Microbial Viability / Q000528:radiation effects; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009016:Moraxella / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D009812:Odorants; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D013784:Textiles / Q000382:microbiology*; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
chemical_list: D002208:Caproates; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S