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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 2004, p. 4912-4913, Vol. 42, No. 10
0095-1137/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.42.10.4912-4913.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Novel Observations of Genotypic and Metabolic Characteristics of Three Subspecies of Streptococcus gallolyticus


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Streptococcus gallolyticus is often found as a normal member of the gut microflora of various animals, while it has been reported to cause mastitis in cattle, septicemia in pigeons, and meningitis, sepsis, and endocarditis in humans (2). The species, which includes strains formerly identified as Streptococcus bovis biotye I and S. bovis biotype II/2, can be distinguished from other related taxa or biotypes (i.e., Streptococcus equinus and S. bovis biotype II/1) based on the results of DNA-DNA reassociation experiments (3). Recently, Schlegel et al. (6) demonstrated that S. gallolyticus, S. bovis biotype II/2, Streptococcus macedonicus, and Streptococcus waius form a single DNA cluster and thus proposed S. gallolyticus subsp. gallolyticus subsp. nov., S. gallolyticus subsp. macedonicus subsp. nov., and S. gallolyticus subsp. pasteurianus subsp. nov. within this species.

Meanwhile, Poyart et al. (4) demonstrated that a partial sequence of the manganese-dependent superoxide dismutase gene (sodA) provides a useful approach for species differentiation within the so-called S. bovis-Streptococcus equinus group. Consequently, Sasaki et al. (5) has developed a novel PCR-based assay targeting a partial sequence of S. gallolyticus specific sodA for species identification. We therefore performed this PCR assay on type or reference strains of the three subspecies of S. gallolyticus and closely related species, including S. equinus and Streptococcus infantarius. As shown in Table 1, the species-specific PCR product was only detected in the three subspecies, supporting the view of Schlegel et al. (6) that these subspecies forms a distinct single taxon at the species level.


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  		TABLE 1. Genotypic and metabolic characteristics of strains belonging to three subspecies of S. gallolyticus and its closely related species

 
Most, if not all, of the strains belonging to S. gallolyticus are able to decarboxylate gallate as well as produce tannase, by which a hydrolyzable tannin (i.e., gallotannin) is hydrolyzed to release gallic acid, which is subsequently decarboxylated to pyrogallol (3). Recently, Chamkha et al. (1) demonstrated that S. gallolyticus ACM 3611T also decarboxylated other aromatic compounds, including protocatechuic acid, p-coumaric acid, caffeic acid, and ferulic acid. In this context, we examined the metabolism of these phenolic acids by type strains of the three subspecies of S. gallolyticus, their respective reference strains, and closely related species, including S. equinus and S. infantarius. Tannase and gallate-decarboxylating activities of the strains were determined by the methodology described previously (3). Metabolism of protocatechuic, p-coumaric, caffeic, and ferulic acids by the strains were detected spectrophotometrically, as described by Chamkha et al. (1). Our results showed that all S. gallolyticus strains tested, inclusive of the three subspecies strains, decarboxylated p-coumaric acid and caffeic acid, while the closely related species did not decarboxylate any of the substrates (Table 1). It should also be noted that the strains belonging to S. gallolyticus subsp. macedonicus did not decarboxylate either protocatechuic acid or ferulic acid, which may prove to be useful phenotypic characteristics for identification at the subspecies level.


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  1. Chamkha, M., B. K. C. Patel, A. Traore, J. L. Garcia, and M. Labat. 2002. Isolation from a shea cake digester of a tannin-degrading Streptococcus gallolyticus strain that decarboxylates protocatechuic and hydroxycinnamic acids, and emendation of the species. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 52:939-944.[Abstract]
  2. Facklam, R. 2002. What happened to the streptococci: overview of taxonomic and nomenclature changes. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 15:613-630.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  3. Osawa, R., T. Fujisawa, and L. I. Sly. 1995. Streptococcus gallolyticus sp. nov.; gallate degrading organisms formerly assigned to Streptococcus bovis. Syst. Appl. Microbiol. 18:74-78.
  4. Poyart, C., G. Quesne, and P. Trieu-Cuot. 2002. Taxonomic dissection of the Streptococcus bovis group by analysis of manganese-dependent superoxide dismutase gene (sodA) sequences: reclassification of "Streptococcus infantarius subsp. coli" as Streptococcus lutetiensis sp. nov. and of Streptococcus bovis biotype 11.2 as Streptococcus pasteurianus sp. nov. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 52:1247-1255.[Abstract]
  5. Sasaki, E., R. Osawa, Y. Nishitani, and R. A. Whiley. 2004. Development of a diagnostic PCR assay targeting the Mn-dependent superoxide dismutase gene (sodA) for identification of Streptococcus gallolyticus. J. Clin. Microbiol. 42:1360-1362.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  6. Schlegel, L., F. Grimont, E. Ageron, P. A. D. Grimont, and A. Bouvet. 2003. Reappraisal of the taxonomy of the Streptococcus bovis/Streptococcus equinus complex and related species: description of Streptococcus gallolyticus subsp. gallolyticus subsp. nov., S. gallolyticus subsp. macedonicus subsp. nov. and S. gallolyticus subsp. pasteurianus subsp. nov. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 53:631-645.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
Ro Osawa*
Eiki Sasaki
Department of Bioresource and Agrobiosciences
Graduate School of Science and Technology
Kobe University
Rokko-dai 1-1, Nada-ku
Kobe 657-8501
Japan

* Phone and Fax: 81-78-803-5804, E-mail: osawa{at}ans.kobe-u.ac.jp.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 2004, p. 4912-4913, Vol. 42, No. 10
0095-1137/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.42.10.4912-4913.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.




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