title: Streptococcus tigurinus, a novel member of the Streptococcus mitis group, causes invasive infections.
abstract: We recently described the novel species Streptococcus tigurinus sp. nov. belonging to the Streptococcus mitis group. The type strain AZ_3a(T) of S. tigurinus was originally isolated from a patient with infective endocarditis. According to its phenotypic and molecular characteristics, S. tigurinus is most closely related to Streptococcus mitis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus pseudopneumoniae, Streptococcus oralis, and Streptococcus infantis. Accurate identification of S. tigurinus is facilitated by 16S rRNA gene analysis. We retrospectively analyzed our 16S rRNA gene molecular database, which contains sequences of all clinical samples obtained in our institute since 2003. We detected 17 16S rRNA gene sequences which were assigned to S. tigurinus, including sequences from the 3 S. tigurinus strains described previously. S. tigurinus originated from normally sterile body sites, such as blood, cerebrospinal fluid, or heart valves, of 14 patients and was initially detected by culture or broad-range 16S rRNA gene PCR, followed by sequencing. The 14 patients had serious invasive infections, i.e., infective endocarditis (n = 6), spondylodiscitis (n = 3), bacteremia (n = 2), meningitis (n = 1), prosthetic joint infection (n = 1), and thoracic empyema (n = 1). To evaluate the presence of Streptococcus tigurinus in the endogenous oral microbial flora, we screened saliva specimens of 31 volunteers. After selective growth, alpha-hemolytic growing colonies were analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and subsequent molecular methods. S. tigurinus was not identified among 608 strains analyzed. These data indicate that S. tigurinus is not widely distributed in the oral cavity. In conclusion, S. tigurinus is a novel agent of invasive infections, particularly infective endocarditis.
authors: Institute of Medical Microbiology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. azbinden@imm.uzh.ch
authors: Andrea
authors: A
authors: Zbinden
authors: Nicolas J
authors: NJ
authors: Mueller
authors: Philip E
authors: PE
authors: Tarr
authors: Gerhard
authors: G
authors: Eich
authors: Bettina
authors: B
authors: Schulthess
authors: Anna S
authors: AS
authors: Bahlmann
authors: Peter M
authors: PM
authors: Keller
authors: Guido V
authors: GV
authors: Bloemberg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001769:Blood / Q000382:microbiology; D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid / Q000382:microbiology; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D006351:Heart Valves / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D013291:Streptococcus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S