Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Prescottia equi gen. nov., comb. nov.: a new home for an old pathogen

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The taxonomic status of Rhodococcus equi, originally isolated from foal specimens, has been the subject of discussion for a number of years. The chequered history of the taxon has prompted this polyphasic analysis of R. equi strains, close members of the genus Rhodococcus and representatives of other genera classified in the order Corynebacteriales, to establish the taxonomic position of this taxon. Thirty one R. equi strains, including the type strain, were examined for genotypic and numerical taxonomic properties. The resultant data are consistent with their classification in the order Corynebacteriales but the R. equi strains formed a distinct phyletic clade away from representatives of other members of the genus Rhodococcus in the 16S rRNA gene tree. Representatives of this clade shared their highest pairwise 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities with the type strain of Rhodococcus kunmingensis (95.2–98.1 %). However, the R. equi taxon was readily distinguished from R. kunmingensis and from the other members of the order Corynebacteriales using a combination of genotypic, chemotypic and phenotypic properties. On the basis of these data the R. equi strains are considered to represent a new genus. The name proposed for this taxon is Prescottia gen. nov., with Prescottia equi comb. nov. as the type species containing the type strain, C 7T (= ATCC 25729T = ATCC 6939T = CCUG 892T = CIP 54.72T = DSM 20307T = HAMBI 2061T = NBRC 14956T = JCM 1311T = JCM 3209T = LMG 18452T = NBRC 101255T = NCTC 1621T = NRRL B-16538T = VKM Ac-953T).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adachi K, Katsuta A, Matsuda S, Peng X, Misawa N, Shizuri Y, Kroppenstedt RM, Yokota A, Kasai H (2007) Smaragdicoccus niigatensis gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel member of the suborder Corynebacterineae. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 57(Pt 2):297–301

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Andrews JM (2001) BSAC standardized disc susceptibility testing method. J Antimicrob Chemother 48(Suppl 1):43–57

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Barton MD, Hughes KL (1980) Corynebacterium equi—a review. Vet Bull 50:65–80

    Google Scholar 

  • Barton MD, Goodfellow M, Minnikin DE (1989) Lipid composition in the classification of Rhodococcus equi. Zentralbl Bakteriol Parasitenkd Infektionskr Hyg 272(2):154–170

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Butler WR, Floyd MM, Brown JM, Toney SR, Daneshvar MI, Cooksey RC, Carr J, Steigerwalt AG, Charles N (2005) Novel mycolic acid-containing bacteria in the family Segniliparaceae fam. nov., including the genus Segniliparus gen. nov., with descriptions of Segniliparus rotundus sp. nov. and Segniliparus rugosus sp. nov. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 55(Pt 4):1615–1624

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Collins MD, Pirouz T, Goodfellow M, Minnikin DE (1977) Distribution of menaquinones in actinomycetes and corynebacteria. J Gen Microbiol 100(2):221–230

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Collins MD, Goodfellow M, Minnikin DE (1979) Isoprenoid quinones in the classification of coryneform and related bacteria. J Gen Microbiol 110(1):127–136

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Collins MD, Goodfellow M, Minnikin DE (1982a) Fatty acid composition of some mycolic acid-containing coryneform bacteria. J Gen Microbiol 128(11):2503–2509

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Collins MD, Jones D, Kroppenstedt RM, Schleifer KH (1982b) Chemical studies as a guide to the classification of Corynebacterium pyogenes and “Corynebacterium haemolyticum”. J Gen Microbiol 128(2):335–341

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Collins MD, Goodfellow M, Minnikin DE, Alderson G (1985) Menaquinone composition of mycolic acid-containing actinomycetes and some sporoactinomycetes. J Appl Bacteriol 58(1):77–86

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cummins CS, Harris H (1956) The chemical composition of the cell wall in some gram-positive bacteria and its possible value as a taxonomic character. J Gen Microbiol 14(3):583–600

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Farfour E, Leto J, Barritault M, Barberis C, Meyer J, Dauphin B, Le Guern A-S, Lefleche A, Badell E, Guiso N, Leclercq A, Le Monnier A, Lecuit M, Rodriguez-Nava V, Bergeron E, Raymond J, Vimont S, Bille E, Carbonnelle E, Guet-Revillet H, Lecuyer H, Beretti J-L, Vay C, Berche P, Ferroni A, Nassif X, Join-Lambert O (2012) Evaluation of the Andromas matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry system for identification of aerobically growing Gram-positive bacilli. J Clin Microbiol 50(8):2702–2707

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Felsenstein J (1981) Evolutionary trees from DNA sequences: a maximum likelihood approach. J Mol Evol 17(6):368–376

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Felsenstein J (1985) Confidence-limits on phylogenies—an approach using the bootstrap. Evolution 39(4):783–791

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fitch WM, Margoliash E (1967) Construction of phylogenetic trees. Science 155(760):279–284

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Giguere S, Prescott JF (1997) Clinical manifestations, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of Rhodococcus equi infections in foals. Vet Microbiol 56(3–4):313–334

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Giguere S, Cohen ND, Chaffin MK, Hines SA, Hondalus MK, Prescott JF, Slovis NM (2011a) Rhodococcus equi: clinical manifestations, virulence, and immunity. J Vet Intern Med 25(6):1221–1230. doi:10.1111/j.1939-1676.2011.00804.x

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Giguere S, Cohen ND, Chaffin MK, Slovis NM, Hondalus MK, Hines SA, Prescott JF (2011b) Diagnosis, treatment, control, and prevention of infections caused by Rhodococcus equi in foals. J Vet Intern Med 25(6):1209–1220. doi:10.1111/j.1939-1676.2011.00835.x

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Goodfellow M, Alderson G (1977) The actinomycete-genus Rhodococcus: a home for the “rhodochrous” complex. J Gen Microbiol 100(1):99–122

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Goodfellow M, Jones AL (2012) Order V. Corynebacteriales ord. nov. In: Goodfellow M, Kämpfer P, Busse H-J et al (eds) Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, part A, vol 5, 2nd edn. Springer, New York, pp 232–243

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Goodfellow M, Beckham AR, Barton MD (1982a) Numerical classification of Rhodococcus equi and related actinomycetes. J Appl Bacteriol 53(2):199–207

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Goodfellow M, Weaver CR, Minnikin DE (1982b) Numerical classification of some rhodococci, corynebacteria and related organisms. J Gen Microbiol 128(4):731–745

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Goodfellow M, Ferguson EV, Sanglier JJ (1992) Numerical classification and identification of Streptomyces species—a review. Gene 115(1–2):225–233

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Goodfellow M, Alderson G, Chun J (1998) Rhodococcal systematics: problems and developments. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek 74(1–3):3–20

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gordon RE, Mihm JM (1962) Identification of Nocardia caviae (Erikson) nov. comb. Ann NY Acad Sci 98(3):628–636

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gurtler V, Mayall BC, Seviour R (2004) Can whole genome analysis refine the taxonomy of the genus Rhodococcus? FEMS Microbiol Rev 28(3):377–403

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hong S, Cheng T-Y, Layre E, Sweet L, Young DC, Posey JE, Butler WR, Moody DB (2012) Ultralong C100 mycolic acids support the assignment of Segniliparus as a new bacterial genus. PLoS ONE 7(6):e39017. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0039017

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hsu FF, Wohlmann J, Turk J, Haas A (2011) Structural definition of trehalose 6-monomycolates and trehalose 6,6′-dimycolates from the pathogen Rhodococcus equi by multiple-stage linear ion-trap mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization. J Am Soc Mass Spectrom 22(12):2160–2170. doi:10.1007/s13361-011-0240-7

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jaccard P (1908) Nouvelle researches sur la distribution florale. Bull Soc Vaud Sci Nat 44:223–270

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones AL, Goodfellow M (2012) Genus Rhodococcus (Zopf 1891) emend. Goodfellow, Alderson and Chun 1998. In: Goodfellow M, Kämpfer P, Busse H-J et al (eds) Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, vol 5, Part A, 2nd edn. Springer, New York, pp 437–464

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones AL, Brown JM, Mishra V, Perry JD, Steigerwalt AG, Goodfellow M (2004) Rhodococcus gordoniae sp. nov., an actinomycete isolated from clinical material and phenol-contaminated soil. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 54(Pt 2):407–411

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jones AL, Koerner RJ, Natarajan S, Perry JD, Goodfellow M (2008) Dietzia papillomatosis sp. nov., a novel actinomycete isolated from the skin of an immunocompetent patient with confluent and reticulated papillomatosis. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 58(Pt 1):68–72. doi:10.1099/ijs.0.65178-0

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jukes TH, Cantor CR (1969) Evolution of protein molecules. In: Munro HN (ed) Mammalian protein metabolism, vol 3. Academic Press, New York, pp 21–132

    Google Scholar 

  • Kämpfer P, Andersson MA, Rainey FA, Kroppenstedt RM, Salkinoja-Salonen M (1999) Williamsia muralis gen. nov., sp. nov., isolated from the indoor environment of a children’s day care centre. Int J Syst Bacteriol 49:681–687

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Keddie RM, Cure GL (1977) The cell wall composition and distribution of free mycolic acids in named strains of coryneform bacteria and in isolates from various natural sources. J Appl Bacteriol 42(2):229–252

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kedlaya I, Ing MB, Wong SS (2001) Rhodococcus equi infections in immunocompetent hosts: case report and review. Clin Infect Dis 32(3):E39–E46

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kim SB, Falconer C, Williams E, Goodfellow M (1998) Streptomyces thermocarboxydovorans sp. nov. and Streptomyces thermocarboxydus sp. nov., two moderately thermophilic carboxydotrophic species from soil. Int J Syst Bacteriol 48:59–68

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kluge AG, Farris FS (1969) Quantitative phyletics and the evolution of anurans. Syst Zool 18:1–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Komura I, Yamada K, Otsuka S, Komagata K (1975) Taxonomic significance of phospholipids in coryneform and nocardioform bacteria. J Gen Appl Microbiol 21(4):251–261

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lechevalier MP, De Bìevre C, Lechevalier HA (1977) Chemotaxonomy of aerobic actinomycetes: phospholipid composition. Biochem Syst Ecol 5:249–260

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Letek M, Gonzalez P, Macarthur I, Rodriguez H, Freeman TC, Valero-Rello A, Blanco M, Buckley T, Cherevach I, Fahey R, Hapeshi A, Holdstock J, Leadon D, Navas J, Ocampo A, Quail MA, Sanders M, Scortti MM, Prescott JF, Fogarty U, Meijer WG, Parkhill J, Bentley SD, Vazquez-Boland JA (2010) The genome of a pathogenic rhodococcus: cooptive virulence underpinned by key gene acquisitions. PLoS Genet 6(9):1–17. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1001145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Magnusson H (1923) Spezifische infecktiose pneumonie beim fohlen. Ein neuer eitererreger beim pferd. Arch Wiss Prakti Tierheilk 50:22–38

    Google Scholar 

  • McMinn EJ, Alderson G, Dodson HI, Goodfellow M, Ward AC (2000) Genomic and phenomic differentiation of Rhodococcus equi and related strains. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek 78(3–4):331–340

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Meijer WG, Prescott JF (2004) Rhodococcus equi. Vet Res 35(4):383–396

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Minnikin DE, Alshamaony L, Goodfellow M (1975) Differentiation of Mycobacterium, Nocardia, and related taxa by thin-layer chromatographic analysis of whole-organism methanolysates. J Gen Microbiol 88(1):200–204

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Minnikin DE, Hutchinson IG, Caldicott AB, Goodfellow M (1980) Thin-layer chromatography of methanolysates of mycolic acid containing bacteria. J Chromatogr A 188:221–233

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Minnikin DE, Bolton RC, Hartmann S, Besra GS, Jenkins PA, Mallet AI, Wilkins E, Lawson AM, Ridell M (1993) An integrated procedure for the direct detection of characteristic lipids in tuberculosis patients. Ann Soc Belg Med Trop 73(Suppl 1):13–24

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mordarski M, Goodfellow M, Kaszen I, Tkacz A, Pulverer G, Schaal KP (1980a) Deoxyribonucleic acid reassociation in the classification of the genus Rhodococcus Zopf 1891. Int J Syst Bacteriol 30:521–527

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mordarski M, Goodfellow M, Tkacz A, Pulverer G, Schaal KP (1980b) Ribosomal ribonucleic acid similarities in the classification of Rhodococcus and related taxa. J Gen Microbiol 118(2):313–319

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nishiuchi Y, Baba T, Yano I (2000) Mycolic acids from Rhodococcus, Gordonia, and Dietzia. J Microbiol Methods 40(1):1–9

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pathom-aree W, Stach JE, Ward AC, Horikoshi K, Bull AT, Goodfellow M (2006) Diversity of actinomycetes isolated from Challenger Deep sediment (10,898 m) from the Mariana Trench. Extremophiles 10(3):181–189

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pearson K (1926) On the coefficient of racial likeness. Biometrika 18:105–117

    Google Scholar 

  • Prescott JF (1991) Rhodococcus equi: an animal and human pathogen. Clin Microbiol Rev 4(1):20–34

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rainey FA, Burghardt J, Kroppenstedt RM, Klatte S, Stackebrandt E (1995) Phylogenetic analysis of the genera Rhodococcus and Nocardia and evidence for the evolutionary origin of the genus Nocardia from within the radiation of Rhodococcus species. Microbiology Uk 141:523–528

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rohlf FJ (1998) On applications of geometric morphometrics to studies of ontogeny and phylogeny. Syst Biol 47(1):147–158

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Saitou N, Nei M (1987) The neighbor-joining method: a new method for reconstructing phylogenetic trees. Mol Biol Evol 4(4):406–425

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schleifer KH, Kandler O (1972) Peptidoglycan types of bacterial cell walls and their taxonomic implications. Bacteriol Rev 36(4):407–477

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sneath PH, Johnson R (1972) The influence on numerical taxonomic similarities of errors in microbiological tests. J Gen Microbiol 72(2):377–392

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sneath PHA, Sokal RR (1973) Numerical taxonomy the principles and practice of numerical classification. W H Freeman and Co., Baltimore

    Google Scholar 

  • Soddell JA, Stainsby FM, Eales KL, Kroppenstedt RM, Seviour RJ, Goodfellow M (2006) Millisia brevis gen. nov., sp. nov., an actinomycete isolated from activated sludge foam. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 56(Pt 4):739–744

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sokal RR, Michener CD (1958) A statistical method for evaluating systematic relationships. Univ Kansas Sci Bull 38:1409–1438

    Google Scholar 

  • Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1962) The comparison of dendrograms by objective methods. Taxon 11:33–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Takai S, Sasaki Y, Ikeda T, Uchida Y, Tsubaki S, Sekizaki T (1994) Virulence of Rhodococcus equi isolates from patients with and without AIDS. J Clin Microbiol 32(2):457–460

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tamura K, Peterson D, Peterson N, Stecher G, Nei M, Kumar S (2011) MEGA5: molecular evolutionary genetics analysis using maximum likelihood, evolutionary distance, and maximum parsimony methods. Mol Biol Evol 28(10):2731–2739. doi:10.1093/molbev/msr121

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tkachuk-Saad O, Prescott J (1991) Rhodococcus equi plasmids: isolation and partial characterization. J Clin Microbiol 29(12):2696–2700

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Uchida K, Aida K (1977) Acyl type of bacteria cell wall: its simple identification by colorimetric method. J Gen Appl Microbiol 23:249–260

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vaneechoutte M, Riegel P, de Briel D, Monteil H, Verschraegen G, De Rouck A, Claeys G (1995) Evaluation of the applicability of amplified rDNA-restriction analysis (ARDRA) to identification of species of the genus Corynebacterium. Res Microbiol 146(8):633–641

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Versalovic J, Koeuth T, Lupski JR (1991) Distribution of repetitive DNA sequences in eubacteria and application to fingerprinting of bacterial genomes. Nucleic Acids Res 19(24):6823–6831

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Versalovic J, Schneider M, de Bruijn FJ, Lupski JR (1994) Genomic fingerprinting of bacteria using repetitive sequenced-based polymerase chain reaction. Methods Mol Cell Biol 5:25–40

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vila J, Juiz P, Salas C, Almela M, Garcia de la Fuente C, Zboromyrska Y, Navas J, Bosch J, Agueero J, Puig de la Bellacasa J, Martinez–Martinez L (2012) Identification of clinically relevant Corynebacterium spp., Arcanobacterium haemolyticum, and Rhodococcus equi by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry. J Clin Microbiol 50(5):1745–1747

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • von Bargen K, Haas A (2009) Molecular and infection biology of the horse pathogen Rhodococcus equi. FEMS Microbiol Rev 33(5):870–891. doi:10.1111/j.1574-6976.2009.00181.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang YX, Wang HB, Zhang YQ, Xu LH, Jiang CL, Li WJ (2008) Rhodococcus kunmingensis sp. nov., an actinobacterium isolated from a rhizosphere soil. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 58(Pt 6):1467–1471

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wayne LG, Brenner DJ, Colwell RR, Grimont PAD, Kandler O, Krichevsky MI, Moore LH, Moore WEC, Murray RGE, Stackebrandt E, Starr MP, Trűper HG (1987) Report of the ad hoc committee on reconciliation of approaches to bacterial systematics. Int J Syst Bacteriol 37(4):463–464

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yamshchikov AV, Schuetz A, Lyon GM (2010) Rhodococcus equi infection. Lancet Infect Dis 10(5):350–359. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(10)70068-2

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zakrzewska-Czerwinska J, Mordarski M, Goodfellow M (1988) DNA base composition and homology values in the classification of some Rhodococcus species. J Gen Microbiol 134(10):2807–2813

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Amanda Jones is grateful to the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne and to the School of Biology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne for financial support. The authors are indebted to Dr. Jean Euzéby for helping to name the new taxon, Prof. Arthur James for his expertise in fluorogenic and chromogenic substrates and Prof. John D. Perry for helping with the antibiotic tolerance studies.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK

    Amanda L. Jones & Iain C. Sutcliffe

  2. School of Biology, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK

    Amanda L. Jones & Michael Goodfellow

Authors
  1. Amanda L. Jones
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Iain C. Sutcliffe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Michael Goodfellow
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Amanda L. Jones.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOC 242 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Jones, A.L., Sutcliffe, I.C. & Goodfellow, M. Prescottia equi gen. nov., comb. nov.: a new home for an old pathogen. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 103, 655–671 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-012-9850-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-012-9850-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation