title: Tsukamurella hongkongensis sp. nov. and Tsukamurella sinensis sp. nov., isolated from patients with keratitis, catheter-related bacteraemia and conjunctivitis.
abstract: Three bacterial strains, HKU51T, HKU52T and HKU53, were isolated from a conjunctival swab, corneal scraping and blood culture of three patients in Hong Kong with conjunctivitis, keratitis and catheter-related bacteraemia, respectively. Cells were Gram-stain-positive, aerobic, catalase-positive, non-sporulating and non-motile bacilli. The three strains had unique biochemical profiles that were distinguishable from those of closely related species of the genus Tsukamurella. Fatty acids, mycolic acids, cell-wall sugars and peptidoglycan analyses showed that they were typical of members of Tsukamurella. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed 100 % sequence identity between HKU52T and HKU53, and the two strains shared 99.5 % sequence identity with Tsukamurella sunchonensis JCM 15929T and Tsukamurella pseudospumae JCM 13375T; HKU51T shared 99.6 % sequence identity with Tsukamurella pulmonis CCUG 35732T. The DNA G+C contents of strains HKU51T, HKU52T and HKU53 were 70.9 ± 2.2, 71.3 ± 2.1 and 71.2 ± 2.3 mol% (mean ± sd; n = 3), respectively. DNA-DNA hybridization confirmed that the novel strains were distinct from other known species of the genus Tsukamurella ( ≤ 50.1 ± 3.7 % DNA-DNA relatedness); two of the isolates, HKU52T and HKU53, represented the same species ( ≥ 94.6 ± 5.6 % DNA-DNA relatedness), while the third isolate, HKU51T, represented another species. The novel species Tsukamurella hongkongensis sp. nov. is proposed to accommodate strains HKU52T and HKU53, with HKU52T ( = JCM 30715T = DSM 100208T) as the type strain; whilst another novel species, Tsukamurella sinensis sp. nov., is proposed to accommodate the third isolate, HKU51T ( = JCM 30714T = DSM 100207T), which is designated the type strain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.|Research Centre of Infection and Immunology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.|State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.|Carol Yu Centre for Infection, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Jade L L
authors.initials: JLL
authors.lastname: Teng
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.|Carol Yu Centre for Infection, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.|Department of Microbiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.|Research Centre of Infection and Immunology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Samson S Y
authors.initials: SSY
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Antonio H Y
authors.initials: AHY
authors.lastname: Ngan
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Chi-Ching
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Tsang
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Garnet K Y
authors.initials: GKY
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Research Centre of Infection and Immunology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.|State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.|Department of Microbiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.|Carol Yu Centre for Infection, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Susanna K P
authors.initials: SKP
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.|Carol Yu Centre for Infection, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.|Research Centre of Infection and Immunology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.|State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Patrick C Y
authors.initials: PCY
authors.lastname: Woo
mesh_terms: D000192:Actinomycetales / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000328:Adult; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000382:microbiology*; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D001482:Base Composition; D002408:Catheters, Indwelling / Q000382:microbiology; D003228:Conjunctiva / Q000382:microbiology; D003231:Conjunctivitis / Q000382:microbiology*; D003315:Cornea / Q000382:microbiology; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D003960:Diaminopimelic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D007634:Keratitis / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009171:Mycolic Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D005227:Fatty Acids; D009171:Mycolic Acids; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D003960:Diaminopimelic Acid