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. 2014 Dec;64(Pt 12):4061-4067.
doi: 10.1099/ijs.0.066597-0. Epub 2014 Sep 23.

Leptospira mayottensis sp. nov., a pathogenic species of the genus Leptospira isolated from humans

Pascale Bourhy  1 , Louis Collet  2 , Sylvain Brisse  3   4 , Mathieu Picardeau  1
Affiliations

Leptospira mayottensis sp. nov., a pathogenic species of the genus Leptospira isolated from humans

Pascale Bourhy et al. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol. 2014 Dec.

Abstract

A group of strains representing species of the genus Leptospira, isolated from patients with leptospirosis in Mayotte (Indian Ocean), were previously found to be considerably divergent from other known species of the genus Leptospira. This was inferred from sequence analysis of rrs (16S rRNA) and other genetic loci and suggests that they belong to a novel species. Two strains from each serogroup currently identified within this novel species were studied. Spirochaete, aerobic, motile, helix-shaped strains grew well at 30-37 °C, but not at 13 °C or in the presence of 8-azaguanine. Draft genomes of the strains were also analysed to study the DNA relatedness with other species of the genus Leptospira. The new isolates formed a distinct clade, which was most closely related to Leptospira borgpetersenii, in multilocus sequence analysis using concatenated sequences of the genes rpoB, recA, fusA, gyrB, leuS and sucA. Analysis of average nucleotide identity and genome-to-genome distances, which have recently been proposed as reliable substitutes for classical DNA-DNA hybridization, further confirmed that these isolates should be classified as representatives of a novel species. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 39.5 mol%. These isolates are considered to represent a novel species, for which the name Leptospira mayottensis sp. nov. is proposed, with 200901116(T) ( = CIP 110703(T) = DSM 28999(T)) as the type strain.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Dark-field photomicrographs of cells of strain 200901116T showing typical helical morphology and hooked ends. Cells were 9±2.1 µm long and ~0.2 µm in diameter, with a wavelength (λ) of ~0.5 µm and an amplitude (h) of ~0.5 µm. Bars, 1 µm.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Phylogenetic tree using maximum-likelihood based on the analysis of a ~1300 bp sequence of the 16S rRNA gene of species of the genus Leptospira. Bar, proportion of nucleotide substitutions. Accession numbers are indicated under brackets. Values at the nodes denote bootstrap support (in percentage) obtained based on 1000 resampling events.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Phylogenetic tree of concatenated sequences of genes rpoB, recA, fusA, gyrB, leuS and sucA of species of the genus Leptospira. Bar, proportion of nucleotide substitutions. Accession numbers are indicated under brackets. Values at the nodes denote bootstrap support (in percentage) obtained based on 1000 resampling events.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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