Staphylococcus muscae, a new species isolated from flies.

A new coagulase-negative species of the genus Staphylococcus, Staphylococcus muscae, is described on the basis of the results of a study of four strains that were isolated from flies. 16S rRNA sequences of the type strains of S. muscae, Staphylococcus schleiferi, and Staphylococcus sciuri were determined and used, together with the corresponding sequences of Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis, for a comparative analysis. The new species is characterized taxonomically; this species is differentiated from the other novobiocin-susceptible staphylococci by its physiological and biochemical activities, cell wall composition, and levels of genetic relatedness. The type strain of this species is strain MB4 (= CCM 4175).     

Staphylococcus capitis subsp. ureolyticus subsp. nov. from human skin

A new subspecies, Staphylococcus capitis subsp. ureolyticus, was isolated from human skin and is described on the basis of studies of 15 to 26 strains. DNA-DNA reassociation reactions demonstrated that these strains were closely related to Staphylococcus capitis but were significantly divergent. The strains of S. capitis subsp. ureolyticus can be distinguished from S. capitis by their positive urease activity, their ability to produce acid from maltose under aerobic conditions, their fatty acid profile, and their colony morphology. The type strain of the new subspecies is strain ATCC 49326.     

Differentiation of Staphylococcus spp. by high-resolution melting analysis

High-resolution melting analysis (HRMA) is a fast (post-PCR) high-throughput method to scan for sequence variations in a target gene. The aim of this study was to test the potential of HRMA to distinguish particular bacterial species of the Staphylococcus genus even when using a broad-range PCR within the 16S rRNA gene where sequence differences are minimal. Genomic DNA samples isolated from 12 reference staphylococcal strains (Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus capitis, Staphylococcus caprae, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus haemolyticus, Staphylococcus hominis, Staphylococcus intermedius, Staphylococcus saprophyticus, Staphylococcus sciuri, Staphylococcus simulans, Staphylococcus warneri, and Staphylococcus xylosus) were subjected to a real-time PCR amplification of the 16S rRNA gene in the presence of fluorescent dye EvaGreen?, followed by HRMA. Melting profiles were used as molecular fingerprints for bacterial species differentiation. HRMA of S. saprophyticus and S. xylosus resulted in undistinguishable profiles because of their identical sequences in the analyzed 16S rRNA region. The remaining reference strains were fully differentiated either directly or via high-resolution plots obtained by heteroduplex formation between coamplified PCR products of the tested staphylococcal strain and phylogenetically unrelated strain.     

A restriction endonuclease from Staphylococcus aureus.

A specific endonuclease, Sau 3AI, has been partially purified from Staphylococcus aureus strain 3A by DEAE-cellulose chromatography. The enzyme cleaves adenovirus type 5 DNA many times, SV40 DNA eight times but does not cleave double-stranded phi X174 DNA. It recognizes the sequence (see article) and cleaves as indicated by the arrows. Evidence is presented that this enzyme plays a role in the biological restriction-modification system of Staphylococcus aureus strain 3A.     

Staphylococcus stepanovicii sp. nov., a novel novobiocin-resistant oxidase-positive staphylococcal species isolated from wild small mammals

Five novobiocin-resistant and oxidase-positive staphylococcal strains were isolated from wild small mammals. Phenotypic studies and phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA, rpoB and dnaJ gene sequences revealed that these strains were members of the Staphylococcus sciuri cluster group and were similar to Staphylococcus fleurettii. DNA–DNA hybridisation with closely related staphylococcal species suggested that the strains represented a novel species. The name Staphylococcus stepanovicii is proposed, and the type strain is 196^T (=PCM 2693^T =CCM 7717^T).     

Staphylococcus succinus subsp. casei subsp. nov., a dominant isolate from a surface ripened cheese

A new subspecies of the species Staphylococcus succinus, isolated from a Swiss surface ripened cheese, is described. This subspecies is differentiated from the species Staphylococcus succinus ATCC 700337T on the basis of DNA-DNA hybridisation, cell wall composition and phenotypic characteristics. Staphylococcus succinus subsp. casei could be distinguished among other things by its ability to reduce nitrate, form acid from D-mannose and D-melezitose, ferment adenosine, inosine, D-sorbitol, and 2,3-butanediol, but not D-alanine. The type strain of Staphylococcus succinus subsp. casei is DSM 15096 (CIP no. pending). The GenBank accession numbers for the reference sequences of the 16S rDNA and the hsp60 gene used in this study are AJ320272 and AF527482, respectively.     

安徽不同地区奶站牛奶中金黄色葡萄球菌及其肠毒素污染状况评估

目的评定安徽地区各奶站牛奶中金黄色葡萄球菌以及肠毒素的污染情况。方法通过从安徽省不同地区30所奶站采集乳样,进行乳源性金黄色葡萄球菌的分离与生化鉴定,并采用PCR技术对分离出的菌株进行金黄色葡萄球菌肠毒素血清型鉴定。结果安徽省30个奶站中有4个地区奶站的牛奶中污染金黄色葡萄球菌;从污染牛奶中共分离出5株金黄色葡萄球菌,检出率为16.7%。经鉴定,所分离出的金黄色葡萄球菌中2株为肠毒素A型,1株为肠毒素C型,2株为同时产肠毒素A和肠毒素C。结论安徽省不同地区奶站中的牛奶污染的金黄色葡萄球菌产肠毒素类型以肠毒素A为主。     

Staphylococcus equorum subsp. linens,subsp. nov., a starter culture component for surface ripened semi-hard cheeses

Two staphylococcal strains, RP29T and RP33, were isolated from the main microflora of a surface ripened Swiss mountain cheese made from raw milk. These two strains were differentiated from the most closely related species Staphylococcus equorum on the basis of DNA-DNA hybridisation and phenotypic characteristics and are proposed as Staphylococcus equorum subsp. linens subsp. nov. They could be distinguished phenotypically from S. equorum by their sensitivity to all 14 tested antibiotics, especially to novobiocin, their incapability to ferment alpha-D-lactose, maltose, sucrose, D-trehalose, D-xylose, L-arabinose, salicin, D-ribose, D-raffinose, D-mannitol, and D-alanine. The GenBank accession numbers for the reference sequences of the 16S rDNA and the hsp60 gene used in this study are AF527483 and AF527484, respectively. 30 tons of a semi-hard Swiss cheese were produced with Staphylococcus equorum subsp. linens DSM 15097T as starter culture component in addition to Debaryomyces hansenii, Geotrichum candidum, Brevibacterium linens, Corynebacterium casei for surface ripened cheeses. The products were sensorically and hygienically perfect. Therefore, Staphylococcus equorum subsp. linens DSM 15097T can be proposed as starter culture component for surface ripened cheeses without any detected antibiotic resistances. The type strain of Staphylococcus equorum subsp. linens is DSM 15097T (CIP 107656T).     

Mouse virulent strain of Staphylococcus epidermidis. Relation of antiphagocytic activity to the protection-inducing antigen.

Using 10(9) or 10(7) colony-forming units of a strain of Staphylococcus epidermidis (strain 1142) in saline or 5% mucin, respectively, 90 to 100% of mice died within 24 to 48 hr after intraperitoneal challenge infection. These organisms gradually multiplied in the peritoneal cavity when injected intraperitoneally into mice, while the mouse avirulent strain (strain 1124) rapidly decreased and no organisms were found there 20 hr after injection. This strain was capable of inducing resistance against challenge with homologous strains. The resistance appeared as early as the first week and disappeared the 4th week after the immunization. However, no resistance was induced with strain 1124 against challenge with strain 1142. Also, hyperimmune rabbit serum prepared with strain 1142 passively protected against challenge with homologous strain in mice. The protective antibody was absorbed out with homologous organisms but not with strain 1124. Subsequently, a surface substance was obtained from strains 1142 or 1124 by the method of Morse. The 1142 surface substance was capable of inducing a resistance against challenge with the homologous strain but not with the 1124 surface substance. Also, this substance absorbed the protective antibody in hyperimmune rabbit serum prepared with the homologous strain but not with the 1124 surface substance nor with the Smith surface antigen extracted from the Smith strain of Staphylococcus aureus. Conversely, the protective antibody in rabbit anti-Smith strain serum against challenge with the homologous strain was absorbed with the Smith surface antigen but not with the 1142 surface substance. In the agar diffusion test, the 1142 surface substance and the Smith surface antigen produced single precipitin lines only against homologous antisera. Biochemical analysis of the 1142 surface substance showed that the substance contained neither nucleic acids nor proteins but is composed of hexosamine, glycerol, phosphorus, alanine, glycine and phenylalanine.     

Restriction fragment fingerprint and genome sizes of Staphylococcus species using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and infrequent cleaving enzymes.

Large restriction fragments of genomic DNA from Staphylococcus species were separated by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Five different strains of S. aureus (ISP8, SAU3A, PS96, ATCC 6538, ATCC 15564) and three representative strains of S. haemolyticus SM102, S. warneri MCS4, S. cohnii LK478 from human hosts, and one strain of S. aureus (ATCC 8432) from an avian host were used in this study. Since Staphylococcus is A + T rich (approximately 67%), restriction fragments were obtained by digesting chromosomal DNA with endonucleases that recognize GC-rich sequences. Five enzymes Csp I, Sma I, Ecl XI, Ksp I, or Sac II were used for generation of few (7 to 16) distinctly separated fragments, with average sizes in the range of 200-300 kb. The size distribution of restriction fragments for each enzyme for each strain produced a strain-identifying fingerprint, and the genome size of each strain was determined from such restriction fragments separated by PFGE.     

Identification of pilin pools in the membranes of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

The proteins of purified inner and outer membranes obtained from Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains PAK and PAK/2Pfs were subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, transferred to nitrocellulose, and treated with antiserum raised against pure pili. Bound antipilus antibodies were visualized by reaction with 125I-labeled protein A from Staphylococcus aureus. The results showed that there are pools of pilin in both the inner and outer membranes of P. aeruginosa and that the pool size in the multipiliated strain is comparable with that of the wild-type strain.     

Thymineless bacteriophage induction in Staphylococcus aureus. I. High-frequency transduction with lysates containing a bacteriophage related to bacteriophage phi 11.

A thymine-requiring mutant of Staphylococcus aureus, strain 8325 (PI258)thy, undergoes prophage induction and lysis after thymine starvation. Four different phages were isolated from the lysate in low titers, among which was a phage designated phi 14, which differs from phage phi 11 in its immunity locus. The thymineless induced lysates of strain 8325(PI258)thy transduce the penicillinase plasmid at high frequency (10(-1), whereas transduction of chromosomal markers is inefficient. A plasmic-cured derivative of strain 8325(PI258)thy is also lysed by thymine starvation and be used for high-frequency transduction of other plasmids. Reconstitution of a strain of S. aureus that responds to thymine starvation was only partially successful, but this system can effectively be used to transduce plasmids or plasmid derivatives.     

Increased sensitivity to phagocytosis of Staphylococcus E-46 after growth in artificial media

Staphylococcus E-46, which exhibits high virulence in mice mainly due to resistance to phagocytosis, gradually lost its virulence during growth in artificial media [Heart-Infusion (HI) slants]. Staphylococcus E-46 is coagulase-negative and DNase-positive, and has a capsule-like structure, and the less-virulent derivative (LVD) strain seemed not to be changed in this respect. The bacteria which had been exposed to HI slants for more than one year (= LVD strain) became more sensitive to phagocytosis by mouse peritoneal macrophages than bacteria which were kept in a lyophilized state. The chemiluminescent response of macrophages to the LVD strain was remarkably higher than that to the original Staphylococcus E-46. When the LVD or the sera for opsonization were heated, the chemiluminescence to the LVD was as low as that to the original Staphylococcus E-46. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of sonication-released membrane protein from the LVD strain showed a unique band with a molecular weight of about 40,000. The factor concerned with the virulence of Staphylococcus E-46 is discussed based on these results.     

一株盐湖芽孢杆菌LG的鉴定及其抗金黄色葡萄球菌活性研究

【目的】从运城盐湖中分离获得一株耐盐细菌LG,对其进行分类鉴定及抗菌特性研究。【方法】利用16S rRNA基因序列分析对菌株进行分类鉴定。以金黄色葡萄球菌为指示菌,采用杯碟法对菌株LG发酵上清液进行抗菌活性检测,利用扫描电镜和透射电镜观察其抗菌效果。研究不同因素对上清液抗菌活性的影响,并采用PCR技术对菌株基因组进行功能基因筛查。【结果】系统发育分析表明该菌为Bacillus属成员,在0–25%的NaCl浓度范围内生长良好,为耐盐细菌。电镜观察发现,菌株LG发酵上清液处理金黄色葡萄球菌可导致细胞结构明显出现异常,细胞质泄漏。抗菌稳定性研究表明,菌株LG发酵上清液活性稳定,表现出了良好的对紫外光、温度、pH和NaCl的耐受性。采用特异性引物,通过PCR筛查发现菌株LG基因组中含有聚酮合酶(PKS I)基因和非核糖体肽合成酶(NRPS)基因,表明该菌具有产多种代谢产物的潜力。【结论】极端环境中的微生物资源可作为抗菌活性物质的潜在新来源。     

Bacteriophage-typable revertants from pleiotropic staphylococcal mutants.

Cell walls were physically purified from bacteriophage-typable revertants that had been isolated from modified cell wall pleiotropic strains derived from Staphylococcus aureus NCTC 8511. The quantitative amino acid, amino sugar, and phosphorus contents of these cell walls are reported. Among the revertants were some whose walls possessed elevated serine and one strain whose walls contained the novel amino sugar galactosamine. The similarities in bacteriophage typing patterns between the revertants and the original parental strain lead to the conclusion that the previously described pleiotropic strains are mutants of NCTC 8511.     

Detection of low-enterotoxin-producing Staphylococcus aureus strains.

Culture supernatant fluids from 26 (23.6%) monkey feeding test-positive Staphylococcus aureus strains, negative for enterotoxins by gel diffusion, were positive by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for one or more of the identified enterotoxins. Staphylococcal enterotoxin D (SED) was produced by 23 (88.5%) strains, SED and SEA were produced in two strains, and SED and SEC were produced in one strain. One strain produced only SEA, and two strains produced only SEC.     

Staphylococcus cohnii subspecies: Staphylococcus cohnii subsp. cohnii subsp. nov. and Staphylococcus cohnii subsp. urealyticum subsp. nov.

Two major subspecies of Staphylococcus cohnii, namely S. cohnii subsp. cohnii, from humans, and S. cohnii subsp. urealyticum, from humans and other primates, are described on the basis of a study of 14 to 25 strains and 18 to 33 strains, respectively. DNA-DNA hybridization studies conducted in our laboratory in 1983 (W. E. Kloos and J. F. Wolfshohl, Curr. Microbiol. 8:115-121, 1983) demonstrated that strains representing the different subspecies were significantly divergent. S. cohnii subsp. urealyticum can be distinguished from S. cohnii subsp. cohnii on the basis of its greater colony size; pigmentation; positive urease, beta-glucuronidase, and beta-galactosidase activities; delayed alkaline phosphatase activity; ability to produce acid aerobically from alpha-lactose; and fatty acid profile. The type strain of S. cohnii subsp. cohnii is ATCC 29974, the designated type strain of S. cohnii Schleifer and Kloos 1975b, 55. The type strain of S. cohnii subsp. urealyticum is ATCC 49330.     

Isolation and characterization of lysozyme-sensitive mutants of Staphylococcus aureus.

Four lysozyme-sensitive mutants were isolated after nitrosoguanidine mutagenesis of a lysozyme-insensitive strain of Staphylococcus aureus. One mutant was sufficiently effective for the isolation of macromolecules, such as plasmid deoxyribonucleic acids, from a cell after lysozyme-induced cell lysis.     

The occurrence in mice of facial and mandibular abscesses associated with Staphylococcus aureus.

Swellings affecting the face and jaws of a strain of outbred BSVS mice are described. The swellings consisted of multiple abscesses which were most commonly associated with the mandible. Staphylococcus aureus of a single phage type was isolated from the abscesses. It is suggested that the organisms gained entry through the oral mucosa.