title: Isolation of Bartonella henselae and Two New Bartonella Subspecies, Bartonellakoehlerae Subspecies boulouisii subsp. nov. and Bartonella koehlerae Subspecies bothieri subsp. nov. from Free-Ranging Californian Mountain Lions and Bobcats.
abstract: Domestic cats are the natural reservoir of Bartonella henselae, B. clarridgeiae and B. koehlerae. To determine the role of wild felids in the epidemiology of Bartonella infections, blood was collected from 14 free-ranging California mountain lions (Puma concolor) and 19 bobcats (Lynx rufus). Bartonella spp. were isolated from four (29%) mountain lions and seven (37%) bobcats. These isolates were characterized using growth characteristics, biochemical reactions, molecular techniques, including PCR-RFLP of selected genes or interspacer region, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), partial sequencing of several genes, and DNA-DNA hybridization. Two isolates were identical to B. henselae genotype II. All other isolates were distinguished from B. henselae and B. koehlerae by PCR-RFLP of the gltA gene using endonucleases HhaI, TaqI and AciI, with the latter two discriminating between the mountain lion and the bobcat isolates. These two novel isolates displayed specific PFGE profiles distinct from B. henselae, B. koehlerae and B. clarridgeiae. Sequences of amplified gene fragments from the three mountain lion and six bobcat isolates were closely related to, but distinct from, B. henselae and B. koehlerae. Finally, DNA-DNA hybridization studies demonstrated that the mountain lion and bobcat strains are most closely related to B. koehlerae. We propose naming the mountain lion isolates B. koehlerae subsp. boulouisii subsp. nov. (type strain: L-42-94), and the bobcat isolates B. koehlerae subsp. bothieri subsp. nov. (type strain: L-17-96), and to emend B. koehlerae as B. koehlerae subsp. koehlerae. The mode of transmission and the zoonotic potential of these new Bartonella subspecies remain to be determined.
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Bruno B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Chomel
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America.|Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, Campus International de Baillarguet, TA C-22/E, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Molia
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Rickie W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Kasten
authors.affiliation: Microbial Pathogenesis and Host Defense Program, and Division of Infectious Diseases, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Gina M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Borgo
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Stuckey
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Veterinary Public Health, Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Bioresource Sciences, Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Soichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maruyama
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Microbiology and Public Health, School of Veterinary Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chao-Chin
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: UPE, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, UMR-BIPAR, ENVA, ANSES, UPEC, USC INRA, LERPAZ, Maisons Alfort, France.
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Haddad
authors.affiliation: Microbial Pathogenesis and Host Defense Program, and Division of Infectious Diseases, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jane E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Koehler
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001473:Bartonella / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D045989:Felidae / Q000145:classification / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D004247:DNA