Francisella guangzhouensis sp. nov., isolated from air-conditioning systems

Ping Hua Qu, Shou Yi Chen, Holger C. Scholz, Hans Jürgen Busse, Quan Gu, Peter Kämpfer, Jeffrey T. Foster, Stefanie P. Glaeser, Cha Chen, Zhi Chong Yang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

33 Scopus citations

Abstract

Four strains (08HL01032T, 09HG994, 10HP82-6 and 10HL1960) were isolated from water of air-conditioning systems of various cooling towers in Guangzhou city, China. Cells were Gramstain- 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 wholegenome sequence of the proposed type strain 08HL01032T 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 08HL01032T, 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 08HL01032T (=CCUG 60119T=NCTC 13503T).

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)3628-3635
Number of pages8
JournalInternational Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology
Volume63
Issue numberPART10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2013

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Microbiology
  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Francisella guangzhouensis sp. nov., isolated from air-conditioning systems'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this