Publications

4425

ABSTRACT The tick-borne bacterium “ Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis” has recently been recognized as a human pathogen. Together with Borrelia afzelii , it is one of the most common pathogens found in the tick Ixodes ricinus . Here, we compared the epidemiologies of “ Ca . Neoehrlichia mikurensis” and B. afzelii by longitudinal sampling from May to September in one of their most abundant vertebrate hosts, the bank vole ( Myodes glareolus ), using real-time PCR for detection and quantification. The prevalences of “ Ca . Neoehrlichia mikurensis” and B. afzelii were determined to be 19% (50/261) and 22% (56/261), respectively. The prevalence of “ Ca . Neoehrlichia mikurensis” increased significantly during the sampling season. The clearance rate of “ Ca . Neoehrlichia mikurensis” was significantly higher than that of B. afzelii . We found a high frequency of double infections; 46% of all samples infected with “ Ca . Neoehrlichia mikurensis” also had a coinfection with B. afzelii . The frequency of coinfections was significantly higher than expected from the prevalence of each pathogen. The high level of coinfections can be caused by interactions between the pathogens or might reflect variation in general susceptibility among voles.

Abstract The glycogen-accumulating organism (GAO) ‘Candidatus Competibacter’ (Competibacter) uses aerobically stored glycogen to enable anaerobic carbon uptake, which is subsequently stored as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs). This biphasic metabolism is key for the Competibacter to survive under the cyclic anaerobic-‘feast’: aerobic-‘famine’ regime of enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) wastewater treatment systems. As they do not contribute to phosphorus (P) removal, but compete for resources with the polyphosphate-accumulating organisms (PAO), thought responsible for P removal, their proliferation theoretically reduces the EBPR capacity. In this study, two complete genomes from Competibacter were obtained from laboratory-scale enrichment reactors through metagenomics. Phylogenetic analysis identified the two genomes, ‘Candidatus Competibacter denitrificans’ and ‘Candidatus Contendobacter odensis’, as being affiliated with Competibacter-lineage subgroups 1 and 5, respectively. Both have genes for glycogen and PHA cycling and for the metabolism of volatile fatty acids. Marked differences were found in their potential for the Embden–Meyerhof–Parnas and Entner–Doudoroff glycolytic pathways, as well as for denitrification, nitrogen fixation, fermentation, trehalose synthesis and utilisation of glucose and lactate. Genetic comparison of P metabolism pathways with sequenced PAOs revealed the absence of the Pit phosphate transporter in the Competibacter-lineage genomes—identifying a key metabolic difference with the PAO physiology. These genomes are the first from any GAO organism and provide new insights into the complex interaction and niche competition between PAOs and GAOs in EBPR systems.

Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (Las) is a phloem-limited bacterium associated with huanglongbing (HLB), one of the most destructive diseases of citrus in Florida and other citrus-producing countries. Natural transmission of Las occurs by the psyllid vector Diaphorina citri, but transmission can also occur through grafting with diseased budwood. As a result of the difficulty of maintaining Las in culture, screening of citrus germplasm for HLB resistance often relies on graft inoculation as the mode of pathogen transmission. This study evaluates transmission efficiencies and HLB progression in graft-inoculated and psyllid-inoculated citrus under greenhouse and natural conditions in the field. Frequencies of transmission in graft-inoculated greenhouse-grown plants varied between experiments and were as high as 90% in susceptible sweet orange plants 6 to 12 months after inoculation. Transmission frequency in a tolerant Citrus × Poncirus genotype (US-802) was 31% to 75%. In contrast, transmission of Las after controlled psyllid inoculation did not exceed 38% in any of four experiments in this study. Whereas the time from inoculation to detection of Las by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was faster in psyllid-inoculated US-802 plants compared with graft-inoculated US-802 plants, it was similar in graft- and psyllid-inoculated sweet orange plants. HLB symptom expression was indistinguishable in graft- and psyllid-inoculated plants but was not always associated with the number of bacteria in affected leaves. The highest number of Las genomes per gram leaf tissue measured in sweet orange plants was one to four × 107 in graft-inoculated plants and one to two × 107 in psyllid-inoculated plants. Highest numbers measured in tolerant US-802 plants were one to three × 106 and two to six × 106, respectively. Compared with artificial inoculation in a greenhouse setting, natural inoculation of field-grown sweet orange trees occurred at a much slower pace, requiring more than 1 year for infection incidence to reach 50% and a minimum of 3 years to reach 100%.

A catalase-positive, rod-shaped, non-proteolytic, non-motile, anaerobic bacterial strain, designated B086562T, was isolated from a blood culture of an 84-year-old male patient in Israel. According to 16S rRNA gene sequence phylogeny, this strain has no known close relatives among recognized bacteria but should be placed within the familyLachnospiraceae. The most closely related recognized bacteria were from the ‘Clostridium clostridioformegroup’:C. clostridioforme(92.4 %) andClostridium bolteae(92.3 %). The isolate produced butyrate, lactate, acetate and succinate as major metabolic end products. The major fatty acids were C16 : 0and C18 : 1cis9 DMA and the DNA G+C content was 46.0 mol%. On the basis of the phenotypic properties and phylogenetic distinctiveness, the blood isolate represents a novel species of a new genus in the familyLachnospiraceae, for which the nameEisenbergiella tayigen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain ofEisenbergiella tayiis B086562T( = LMG 27400T = DSM 26961T = ATCC BAA-2558T).