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Catabacter hongkongensisRANK: SpeciesTAXONOMY: Terrabacteria group -> Firmicutes -> Clostridia -> Clostridiales -> Catabacteriaceae -> Catabacter -> Catabacter hongkongensis OVERVIEW: Type species: Catabacter hongkongensis is a motile, catalase-positive, strictly anaerobic, nonsporulating, Gram-positive coccobacillus that was first described in 2007 after its isolation from blood cultures of four patients . Two of the isolates were recovered from two patients in Hong Kong, one with intestinal obstruction and secondary sepsis and the other with acute appendicitis. The other two isolates were recovered from two patients in Canada, one with biliary sepsis after stent removal and the other with metastatic carcinoma of the lung and sepsis syndrome. The four isolates exhibited similar phenotypic characteristics that do not fit into patterns of any known genus and species. Their 16S rRNA genes were identical but exhibited more than a 16% nucleotide difference from those of all previously described bacteria. Phylogenetic analysis showed that they represent a distinct lineage among the anaerobic Gram-positive rods, only peripherally associated with clusters I, III, and XIVb of the clostridia. Based on its unique phenotypic and genotypic characteristics, a novel genus and species, C. hongkongensis, was proposed to describe this “catalase-positive bacterium,” which may potentially belong to a new family, Catabacteriaceae The first isolation of Catabacter hongkongensis in Italy is reported. Pleomorphic Gram-positive rods were grown in blood cultures from samples obtained from a 55-year-old patient admitted to the intensive care unit with sepsis after he experienced massive thoracic and abdominal trauma. The identification was obtained by amplification and sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. [PMID: 26862436] This species has been identified as a resident in the human gastrointestinal tract based on the phylogenetic framework of its small subunit ribosomal RNA gene sequences.[PMC 4262072] |