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J. Clin. Microbiol. doi:10.1128/JCM.01831-06
Copyright (c) 2006, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Catabacter hongkongensis gen. nov. sp. nov. isolated from blood cultures of patients from Hong Kong and Canada

Department of Microbiology, and Center of Infection and Immunology, The University of Hong Kong; State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases (The University of Hong Kong), Hong Kong; Laboratory Services, British Columbia Centre for Disease Control; Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: pcywoo{at}hkucc.hku.hk.

	Abstract

Four bacterial isolates were recovered from the blood cultures of four patients, two from Hong Kong and two from Canada. The two Hong Kong strains were isolated from a 48-year-old man with intestinal obstruction and secondary sepsis (strain HKU16^T), and a 39-year-old man with acute appendicitis (strain HKU17) respectively; while the two Canadian strains were isolated from a 74-year-old man with biliary sepsis (strain CA1) and a 66-year-old woman with metastatic carcinoma and sepsis (strain CA2). While the first three patients survived, the last patient died two weeks after the episode of bacteremia. All four isolates were strictly anaerobic, non-sporulating, gram-positive coccobacilli that were unidentified by conventional phenotypic tests and commercial identification systems. They grow on sheep blood agar as non-hemolytic, pinpoint colonies after 48 h of incubation at 37°C in anaerobic environment. All were catalase-positive and motile with flagellae. They produce acid from arabinose, glucose, mannose and xylose. They do not produce indole or reduce nitrate. They are sensitive to penicillin, vancomycin and metronidazole but resistant to cefotaxime. 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequence analysis showed 16.0%, 16.8% and 21.0% base difference to Clostridium propionicum, C. neopropionicum and Atopobium minutum respectively. The G + C content of strain HKU16^T is 40.2 ± 2.2%. Based on their phylogenetic affiliation, unique G + C content and phenotypic characteristics, we propose a new genus and species, Catabacter hongkongensis gen. nov. sp. nov., to describe the bacterium, for which HKU16^T is the type strain, and that it be assigned to a new family Catabacteriaceae. The gastrointestinal tract is probably the source of the bacterium at least three of the four patients. The isolation of a catalase-positive, motile, non-sporulating anaerobic gram-positive bacillus in clinical laboratories should raise the possibility of C. hongkongensis. Further studies should be performed to ascertain the epidemiology and other disease associations of this bacterium.