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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, July 1999, p. 2248-2254, Vol. 37, No. 7
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Usefulness of Fatty Acid Composition for Differentiation of Legionella Species

Alexandra Diogo,1 António Veríssimo,2,* M. Fernanda Nobre,2 and Milton S. da Costa1

Departamento de Bioquímica, Universidade de Coimbra, 3000 Coimbra,1 and Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade de Coimbra, 3004-517 Coimbra,2 Portugal

Received 27 October 1998/Returned for modification 25 January 1999/Accepted 16 April 1999

Numerical analysis of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) profiles of 199 isolates and 76 reference strains, belonging to all validly described species of the genus Legionella that can be cultured in laboratory media, was used to differentiate between the species of this genus. With the exception of the strains that autofluoresced red, it was possible to differentiate all the other Legionella species. The strains of the species L. bozemanii, L. dumoffii, L. feeleii, L. gormanii, L. maceachernii, L. micdadei, and L. quinlivanii did not form single clusters, showing some degree of variability in the fatty acid compositions. The strains of the blue-white autofluorescent species had very similar fatty acid compositions and were difficult to distinguish from each other. Nine isolates had fatty acid profiles unlike those of any of the validly described species and may represent different FAME groups of known species or undescribed Legionella species. The method used in this study was useful for screening and discriminating large number of isolates of Legionella species. Moreover, the results obtained can be included in a database of fatty acid profiles, leading to a more accurate automatic identification of Legionella isolates.


* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade de Coimbra, 3004-517 Coimbra, Portugal. Phone: 351-39-824024. Fax: 351-39-826798. E-mail: averissimo{at}iav.uc.pt.


Journal of Clinical Microbiology, July 1999, p. 2248-2254, Vol. 37, No. 7
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.



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