Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1999 Aug;37(8):2553-6.
doi: 10.1128/JCM.37.8.2553-2556.1999.

Abiotrophia elegans strains comprise 8% of the nutritionally variant streptococci isolated from the human mouth

S Sato  1 , T Kanamoto, M Inoue
Affiliations

Abiotrophia elegans strains comprise 8% of the nutritionally variant streptococci isolated from the human mouth

S Sato et al. J Clin Microbiol. 1999 Aug.

Abstract

Ninety-one isolates of nutritionally variant streptococci (NVS) that were previously isolated from the human mouth were regarded as consisting of 7 Streptococcus defectivus isolates, 78 Streptococcus adjacens isolates, and 6 Gemella morbillorum isolates. However, recent references to the taxonomic reclassification of NVS, from S. defectivus to Abiotrophia defectiva and from S. adjacens to Abiotrophia adiacens, and the newly introduced species Abiotrophia elegans as a third Abiotrophia species, emphasize the need for genetic analyses for identification of NVS. When PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and phylogenetic distances were examined based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, the results indicated that 7 of the 91 NVS isolates were closely related to A. elegans. These seven isolates consisted of four isolates previously identified as G. morbillorum and three isolates previously identified as S. adjacens. Two isolates previously identified as G. morbillorum were related to A. adiacens. In biochemical tests, A. elegans and the seven isolates related to it possessed arginine dihydrolase (ADH) activity but the other Abiotrophia species did not. As a result, A. elegans strains comprised 8% of the 91 NVS isolates. Our findings suggest that A. elegans, A. adiacens, and A. defectiva exist in the human mouth in proportions of about 1:11:1 and that A. elegans can be genetically distinguished from the other two Abiotrophia species by PCR-RFLP analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences and can be biochemically distinguished by ADH activity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIG. 1
FIG. 1
PCR-RFLP analysis of the 16S rRNA genes. Lanes: 1, size marker of 100-bp ladder; 2, A. defectiva ATCC 49176T; 3, A. adiacens ATCC 49175T; 4, A. elegans DSM 11693T; 5, G. morbillorum ATCC 27824T; 6 to 12, NVS isolates C9-2, HHC5, YTM1, S43-1, NMP3, S943-2, and S1052-1, respectively.
FIG. 2
FIG. 2
Phylogenetic relationships based on 16S rRNA gene sequences. The line denotes evolutionary distance.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Beighton D, Homer K A, Bouvet A, Storey A R. Analysis of enzymatic activities for differentiation of two species of nutritionally variant streptococci, Streptococcus defectivus and Streptococcus adjacens. J Clin Microbiol. 1995;33:1584–1587. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bouvet A, Grimont F, Grimont P A D. Streptococcus defectivus sp. nov. and Streptococcus adjacens sp. nov., nutritionally variant streptococci from human clinical specimens. Int J Syst Bacteriol. 1989;39:290–294. - PubMed
    1. Bouvet A, Villeroy F, Cheng F, Lamesch C, Williamson R, Gutmann L. Characterization of nutritionally variant streptococci by biochemical tests and penicillin-binding proteins. J Clin Microbiol. 1985;22:1030–1034. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Collins M D, Hutson R A, Falsen E, Sjöden B, Facklam R R. Description of Gemella sanguinis sp. nov., isolated from human clinical specimens. J Clin Microbiol. 1998;36:3090–3093. - PMC - PubMed
    1. George R H. The isolation of symbiotic streptococci. J Med Microbiol. 1974;7:77–83. - PubMed

Associated data

LinkOut - more resources