title: Francisella guangzhouensis sp. nov., isolated from air-conditioning systems.
abstract: Four strains (08HL01032(T), 09HG994, 10HP82-6 and 10HL1960) were isolated from water of air-conditioning systems of various cooling towers in Guangzhou city, China. Cells were Gram-stain-negative coccobacilli without flagella, catalase-positive and oxidase-negative, showing no reduction of nitrate, no hydrolysis of urea and no production of H2S. Growth was characteristically enhanced in the presence of l-cysteine, which was consistent with the properties of members of the genus Francisella. The quinone system was composed of ubiquinone Q-8 with minor amounts of Q-9. The polar lipid profile consisted of the predominant lipids phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, two unidentified phospholipids (PL2, PL3), an unidentified aminophospholipid and an unidentified glycolipid (GL2). The polyamine pattern consisted of the major compounds spermidine, cadaverine and spermine. The major cellular fatty acids were C10 : 0, C14 : 0, C16 : 0, C18 : 1ω9c and C18 : 1 3-OH. A draft whole-genome sequence of the proposed type strain 08HL01032(T) was generated. Comparative sequence analysis of the complete 16S and 23S rRNA genes confirmed affiliation to the genus Francisella, with 95 % sequence identity to the closest relatives in the database, the type strains of Francisella philomiragia and Francisella noatunensis subsp. orientalis. Full-length deduced amino acid sequences of various housekeeping genes, recA, gyrB, groEL, dnaK, rpoA, rpoB, rpoD, rpoH, fopA and sdhA, exhibited similarities of 67-92 % to strains of other species of the genus Francisella. Strains 08HL01032(T), 09HG994, 10HP82-6 and 10HL1960 exhibited highly similar pan-genome PCR profiles. Both the phenotypic and molecular data support the conclusion that the four strains belong to the genus Francisella but exhibit considerable divergence from all recognized Francisella species. Therefore, we propose the name Francisella guangzhouensis sp. nov., with the type strain 08HL01032(T) ( = CCUG 60119(T) = NCTC 13503(T)).
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 510006, PR China.
authors.forename: Ping-Hua
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiological Laboratory, Guangzhou Center for Diseases Control and Prevention, No. 23, 3rd Zhongshan Road, Guangzhou 510080, PR China.
authors.forename: Shou-Yi
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, Neuherbergstrasse 11, D-80937 Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Holger C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Scholz
authors.affiliation: Institut für Bakteriologie, Mykologie und Hygiene, Veterinärmedizinische Universität, A-1210 Wien, Austria.
authors.forename: Hans-Jürgen
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Busse
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiological Laboratory, Guangzhou Center for Diseases Control and Prevention, No. 23, 3rd Zhongshan Road, Guangzhou 510080, PR China.
authors.forename: Quan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: Institute for Applied Microbiology, Justus-Liebig-Universitat Giessen, IFZ, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26-32, D-35392 Giessen, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kämpfer
authors.affiliation: Center for Microbial Genetics and Genomics, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011-4073, USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Foster
authors.affiliation: Institute for Applied Microbiology, Justus-Liebig-Universitat Giessen, IFZ, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26-32, D-35392 Giessen, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefanie P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Glaeser
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 510006, PR China.
authors.forename: Cha
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiological Laboratory, Guangzhou Center for Diseases Control and Prevention, No. 23, 3rd Zhongshan Road, Guangzhou 510080, PR China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Chong
authors.initials: ZC
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000389:Air Conditioning; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D002681:China; D003545:Cysteine / Q000378:metabolism; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000032:analysis; D005603:Francisella / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000032:analysis; D010802:Phylogeny; D011073:Polyamines / Q000032:analysis; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D012338:RNA, Ribosomal, 23S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014451:Ubiquinone / Q000032:analysis; D014871:Water Microbiology
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D005227:Fatty Acids; D010743:Phospholipids; D011073:Polyamines; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D012338:RNA, Ribosomal, 23S; D014451:Ubiquinone; C030778:ubiquinone 8; D003545:Cysteine