Identities of Arthrobacter spp. and Arthrobacter-Like Bacteria Encountered in Human Clinical Specimens

• Published in: Journal of Clinical Microbiology Vol. 46; no. 9; pp. 2980 - 2986
• Main Authors: Mages, Irene S, Frodl, Reinhard, Bernard, Kathryn A, Funke, Guido
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Society for Microbiology 01.09.2008; American Society for Microbiology (ASM)
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Arthrobacter - classification; Arthrobacter - drug effects; Arthrobacter - genetics; Arthrobacter - isolation & purification; Bacteriology; Biological and medical sciences; Brevibacterium - isolation & purification; Child, Preschool; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Male; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Microbiology; Middle Aged; Miscellaneous; Molecular Sequence Data; Phenotype; Phylogeny; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics; Young Adult; Human; Bacteria; Actinomycetes; Microbiology; Clinical isolate; Arthrobacter
• ISSN: 0095-1137; 1098-660X
• DOI: 10.1128/JCM.00658-08

After the initial description of Arthrobacter spp. isolated from clinical specimens in the mid-1990s, very few further reports on Arthrobacter spp. have appeared in the clinical microbiology literature. The aim of the present study was to elucidate the distribution of Arthrobacter spp. and Arthrobacter-like bacteria encountered in clinical specimens by studying 50 consecutively isolated or received strains of large-colony-forming, whiteish-grayish, non-cheese-like-smelling, nonfermentative gram-positive rods by applying phenotypic methods as well as 16S rRNA gene sequencing. We observed a very heterogenous distribution, with the 50 strains belonging to 20 different taxa and each of 13 strains as a single representative of its particular taxon. Thirty-eight strains represented true Arthrobacter strains, 7 strains belonged to the genus Brevibacterium, 2 were Microbacterium species, and each of 3 single strains was a member of the rarely encountered genera Pseudoclavibacter, Leucobacter, and Brachybacterium, respectively. A. cumminsii (n = 14) and A. oxydans (n = 11) were the most frequently found species. The present report describes the first three A. aurescens strains isolated from human clinical specimens. Comprehensive antimicrobial susceptibility data are given for the 38 Arthrobacter isolates.