Altodouro, a new Leptospira serovar of the Pomona serogroup isolated from rodents in northern Portugal.
A Leptospira strain (designated RIM 139) was isolated from the kidney of a house-mouse, Mus musculus, in Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro region of northern Portugal. The isolate showed typical leptospiral motility and morphology under dark-field microscopy and was pathogenic for hamsters. Species determination was carried out on basis of PCR products generated by species-specific primers and by sequencing of the secY gene. Putative serogroup typing was performed using the microscopic agglutination test (MAT) with a panel of rabbit anti-Leptospira sera representative of the major pathogenic serogroups. Serovar identification was carried out by a combination of monoclonal antibodies and cross-agglutinin absorption test (CAAT). The novel nature of the strain was confirmed by restriction endonuclease analysis (REA). Results showed that RIM 139 represents a new serovar. The name Altodouro is proposed for this new serovar. Speciation findings - PCR analysis of the ompL1 gene and sequencing of the secY gene - indicated that it belonged to Leptospira kirschneri as did amplification with G1/G2 and B64-I/B64-II the primer sets.
Dept. of Veterinary Sciences, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Ap. 1013, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal. maria_neves_cardoso@msn.com
Maria das Neves
Md
Paiva-Cardoso
Zbigniew
Z
Arent
Colm
C
Gilmore
Rudy
R
Hartskeerl
William A
WA
Ellis
D000372:Agglutination Tests; D000818:Animals; D006224:Cricetinae; D007919:Leptospira / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D007922:Leptospirosis / Q000382:microbiology; D051379:Mice; D010802:Phylogeny; D011174:Portugal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D012377:Rodentia / Q000382:microbiology; D012703:Serotyping
D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S