"Actinobaculum massiliae," a new species causing chronic urinary tract infection

Abstract

We report on a new Actinobaculum species, "Actinobaculum massiliae," isolated from the urine of an elderly woman with recurrent cystitis. Its phenotypic pattern was similar to those of both of the other Actinobaculum species described to date. On 16S rRNA sequencing, the Marseille isolate shared 95% homology with Actinobaculum suis, 92 to 93% homology with Actinobaculum schaalii, 91 to 92% homology with Arcanobacterium spp., and 87 to 90% homology with Actinomyces species. A bootstrap value of 99% supports the node separating the Actinobaculum sp. from its closest neighbor (A. suis). In conclusion, on the basis of phenotypic, genotypic, and phylogenetic assessments, we show that the Marseille isolate is a previously unrecognized organism within the Actinobaculum genus, and we propose placement of the organism in the taxon "Actinobaculum massiliae."

FIG. 1.

Phylogenetic tree showing relationship of “A. massiliae” sp. nov. with other members of the family Actinomycetaceae. The tree was constructed by using the neighbor-joining method, based on the nearly complete sequence (1,310 nucleotides) of the 16S rRNA gene. Bootstrap values resulting from 100 replications are presented at the branch points. Denitrobacterium detoxifians was used as the outgroup.