title: Gemmata species: Planctomycetes of medical interest.
abstract: The Planctomycetes genus Gemmata is represented by both uncultured organisms and cultured Gemmata obscuriglobus and 'Gemmata massiliana' organisms. Their plasmidless 9.2 Mb genomes encode a complex cell plan, cell signaling capacities, antibiotic and trace metal resistance and multidrug resistance efflux pumps. As they lack iron metabolism pathways, they are fastidious. Gemmata spp. are mainly found in aquatic and soil environments but have also been found in hospital water networks in close proximity to patients, in animals, on human skin, the gut microbiota and in the blood of aplastic leukemic patients. Due to their panoply of attack and defense mechanisms and their recently demonstrated association with humans, the potential of Gemmata organisms to behave as opportunistic pathogens should be more widely recognized.
authors.affiliation: Aix Marseille Université, URMITE, UMR CNRS 7278, IRD 198, INSERM 1095. Faculté de Médecine, Marseille 13005, France.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Aghnatios
authors.affiliation: Aix Marseille Université, URMITE, UMR CNRS 7278, IRD 198, INSERM 1095. Faculté de Médecine, Marseille 13005, France.
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Drancourt
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D016905:Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D061328:Planctomycetales / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism
keywords: Gemmata; Planctomycetes; microbiota; opportunistic pathogens