|
|
||||||||
ena M. KorczakInstitute of Veterinary Bacteriology, Vetsuisse Faculty of the University of Bern, Laenggass-Str. 122, CH-3001 Bern, Switzerland
Correspondence
Peter Kuhnert
peter.kuhnert{at}vbi.unibe.ch
| ABSTRACT |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Individual phylogenetic trees for six genes are available as supplementary data with the online version of this paper.
| INTRODUCTION |
|---|
|
|
|---|
The taxonomy of the Pasteurellaceae is complex and at present incompletely resolved. A number of organisms, mainly (but unfortunately not only) those classified in the past, need to be reclassified. Moreover, many taxa await final description and classification, e.g. several genomospecies and numerous Bisgaard taxa (Christensen et al., 2003b
). Based on monophyletic clusters observed with 16S rRNA gene (rrs) phylogeny, a minimum of 30 genera are expected for the family. Due to many closely related taxa, phenotypic identification and separation are problematic in certain cases. The requirement for phenotypic characteristics that separate new species from related taxa is often an obstacle for new species descriptions, leaving diagnostic laboratories with unnamed genomospecies. Further complicating a precise classification of new taxa is the need for DNADNA hybridization, which is still regarded as the gold standard for species definition and description. However, this technique is cumbersome, if not impossible, to perform with some taxa. In addition, the method shows a very high variation between experiments and between laboratories. Due to these difficulties and their labour-intensive nature, full matrix hybridizations are rarely carried out, which weakens the significance of the results obtained. Moreover, for each new taxon suggested, cross-hybridization with all the relevant taxa is needed, and the use of reference strains is a prerequisite. Finally, the method only allows investigation at the species level, since its use for investigating genera is less trustworthy, due to its technical limitations and low resolution. Therefore, the ad hoc committee for the re-evaluation of species definition in bacteriology has suggested the development and validation of alternative techniques to DNADNA hybridization (Stackebrandt et al., 2002
). However, phylogenetic analysis by rrs sequences, used successfully for years, has its limitations for classification. It does not allow analysis of closely related taxa, and in certain cases contradicts other classification markers. The exploitation of alternative housekeeping genes and their use in multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) should therefore be investigated (Gevers et al., 2005
). Several studies using housekeeping genes have been done within the Pasteurellaceae. They include the use of infB for the genera Haemophilus and Actinobacillus (Hedegaard et al., 2001
; Norskov-Lauritsen et al., 2004
), the rpoB gene for the entire family (Korczak et al., 2004
), and sodA for the genus Pasteurella (Gautier et al., 2005
). Investigations have also included comparisons of rrs, rpoB, infB and atpD (Christensen et al., 2004b
). These studies have shown that these genes represent useful phylogenetic markers which can be applied in taxonomy, but they are not suitable for the prediction of whole-genome relatedness as it is assessed by DNADNA hybridization. Recently, Zeigler (2003)
has shown that a selection of three genes can be used to predict whole-genome relatedness. Comparing whole-genome sequences of 49 bacterial species, he concluded that out of 32 candidate genes investigated, similarities of the genes recN, thdF and rpoA, used in a formula, can be applied to predict confidently the whole-genome similarities among the respective taxa. Based on these findings, we developed a sequencing strategy for recN (encoding a DNA repair protein), thdF (encoding a GTPase) and rpoA (encoding the alpha subunit of the RNA polymerase) within the Pasteurellaceae, and validated their use in MLSA to predict the whole-genome DNADNA similarity, G+C content and phylogeny of selected taxa.
| METHODS |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Sequence determination of rrs, rpoB and infB genes of Pasteurellaceae was done as previously published (Kuhnert et al., 2002
, 2004
; Korczak et al., 2004
).
Sequence analysis.
Sequence similarities of the three genes from different species were calculated using the CLUSTALX program generating a distance matrix (Thompson et al., 1997
). Values were converted to a similarity matrix in Microsoft Excel and then used in the formula described by Zeigler (2003)
:
|
|
| RESULTS AND DISCUSSION |
|---|
|
|
|---|
|
For thdF, the primers thdF_first-L2 and thdF_first-R2 were generally used as PCR and sequencing primers. Primers thdF-L2 and thdF-R2 were used as alternative primers during the study, although unlike with recN, never in combination with the other two. Primers thdF-1 and thdF-2 were used as internal sequencing primers for all strains, except for Actinobacillus hominis, Actinobacillus suis, Actinobacillus equuli subsp. haemolyticus, Actinobacillus arthritidis, Actinobacillus genomospecies 1 and Pasteurella multocida subsp. gallicida, for which internal primers thdF-3 and thdF-4 were used. For A. gallinarum and [Actinobacillus] minor, primer thdF_MP-L was used instead of thdF_first-L2 for PCR and sequencing.
The standard annealing temperature for PCR was 54 °C, but in certain cases this had to be lowered to 48 °C (e.g. recN with G. anatis) or increased to 58 °C (e.g. thdF with A. pleuropneumoniae and Mannheimia species).
Genome relatedness of the genera
The three genes rpoA, recN and thdF of 43 strains (37 species and subspecies, including all type species of named genera) from the family Pasteurellaceae were amplified and sequenced. A list of all the strains included and the accession numbers of the sequences are given in Table 2
. Based on the obtained sequences, whole-genome relatedness between the species was calculated and is given as similarity values in Table 3![]()
. For the first time, cross-comparisons among species and genera were possible. With the classical hybridization method of Brenner et al. (1982)
, the DNADNA relatedness at species level was set at 70 % (Wayne et al., 1987
). Within the family Pasteurellaceae, data have mainly been generated with the spectrophotometric method, and Mutters et al. (1989)
have shown that a limit of 85 % for species separation is reasonable. Moreover, a homology above 55 % is set for genus separation with the Pasteurellaceae. However, the use of DNADNA hybridization to investigate less-related organisms (e.g. two different genera) does not provide reproducible results at this level. Application of the presented sequence method has no limitations, since similarity values are calculated and are not dependent on experimental settings. Therefore, genomes of less-related species can be compared and the calculated values can be used for taxonomic purposes. Based upon the data in the lower left of Table 3![]()
, preliminary threshold values can be set at around 0.85 for species separation, while the limit for genus separation is about 0.4, i.e. strains showing similarity values below 0.85 almost certainly belong to two different species, whereas strains showing similarity values below 0.4 most likely belong to two different genera. Strains of the same species show similarity values of 0.9 and higher, and species of the same genus have similarity values above 0.4. Similarity values between 0.85 and 0.9 are intermediate, and might indicate different species or subspecies, as observed for the two species M. haemolytica/Mannheimia glucosida (0.88) or with the two subspecies of A. equuli (0.87). These limits for species and genus delineation are preliminary and generalized suggestions, and might change as new data accumulate, or might have to be adapted for certain groups within the family. As DNADNA similarity is used as a part of a polyphasic approach, criteria other than sequence-based prediction of genome similarity should be included for proper classification of such strains. The highest similarity value that can be obtained with 100 % identical sequences in the formula is 0.94. The fact that this value is not 1.0 somehow reflects the possibility of mobile genetic elements changing the overall similarity of genomes. Phages, plasmids and integrons can change a single strain and lead to strain variation, even though the rest of the genome is identical. Thereby, the mathematical model respects the biological fact of genome plasticity within species and even within strains (D. R. Zeigler, personal communication).
|
|
|
|
Strains belonging to Actinobacillus sensu stricto showed very high similarity values when compared with each other (Table 3![]()
, lower left). This included A. capsulatus, which showed a similarity value of 0.74 with the type species A. lignieresii. Based on this figure, A. capsulatus should be classified as a true member of Actinobacillus sensu stricto. This is further supported by earlier DNADNA hybridization studies, as well as rpoB and infB phylogeny (Mutters et al., 1989
; Korczak et al., 2004
; Norskov-Lauritsen et al., 2004
). Further studies that include more strains than the type strain alone need to be carried out in order to finally classify A. capsulatus. [Actinobacillus] minor and [Actinobacillus] porcitonsillarum are closely related to the Actinobacillus sensu stricto cluster, though forming a small branch of their own in rrs as well as rpoB trees (Korczak et al., 2004
). In Table 3![]()
(lower left), these two taxa showed similarity values below 0.4 with all members of Actinobacillus sensu stricto. However, between [A.] minor and [A.] porcitonsillarum, the similarity value was 0.79, which would combine them in their own genus, although separating them as two species.
The other two porcine Actinobacillus species [A.] indolicus and [Actinobacillus] porcinus included in our study were clearly outside the Actinobacillus sensu stricto cluster, and did not show genetic relatedness with each other. However, [A.] indolicus showed a high similarity value of 0.6 with [H.] parasuis, indicating that these two species form a genus of their own.
Variation within species
In order to examine intraspecies variation we investigated a few serotypes of A. pleuropneumoniae. As seen in Table 3![]()
(lower left), the obtained similarity values were clearly above 0.9. A. pleuropneumoniae and A. lignieresii also showed a similarity value above 0.9 and could be classified as subspecies of A. lignieresii, corresponding to major differences in disease manifestations. Intraspecies variability can also be seen with P. multocida and its subspecies. Whereas P. multocida subsp. gallicida showed an even higher similarity value to the type species P. multocida subsp. multocida than strain Pm70, P. multocida subsp. septica had a similarity value below 0.9 but above 0.85, which leaves it open whether it is a subspecies or a species of its own, as argued by several recent papers (Kuhnert et al., 2000
; Davies, 2004
).
recN alone
Sequence determination of all three genes might be cumbersome. For that reason we investigated whether the recN sequence alone might be representative of all three genes, as also proposed by Zeigler (2003)
. The similarity values are shown in the upper-right panel of Table 3![]()
. Negative values were obtained in this approach. This mathematical artifact has no further meaning and only indicates a rather low genetic relatedness between the corresponding taxa. When performing a regression analysis of all similarity values calculated using the three genes versus the values calculated using recN alone we found a very good correlation (r=0.978). Threshold similarity values for genus and species boundaries are comparable, with very few discrepancies (Fig. 1
). Therefore, recN could be used as an initial means of comparing genomes of the Pasteurellaceae although, as demonstrated by Zeigler (2003)
, with a lower confidence. For identifying homogeneous species or separation of distantly related organisms it might be sufficient, but for better resolution, the sequence of all three genes would be necessary.
|
|
|
The congruence between the individual trees (see supplementary data) was calculated by Pearson correlation in Bionumerics. Results are presented graphically as well as in tabular form in Fig. 3
. From this it can be deduced that recN most properly represents the consensus tree (MLSP), indicated by the high correlation between the two (97.1 %). The other genes, rpoB, infB, rpoA and thdF, had lower values between 92 and 95 % with the consensus tree. Overall, the three genes recN, rpoA and thdF had tree topologies that were closest to that of the consensus tree. This is further evidence that these genes are highly representative for the entire genome. The genes rpoB and infB shared some common tree topology, as shown in Fig. 3
. The most divergent tree, showing the lowest correlations to all the other trees, was the one derived from rrs. This might be explained by the different nature of this gene, since it is not protein coding. Nevertheless, this finding is also surprising, since rrs is regarded as the gold standard for phylogenetic analysis of bacteria. However, at least within the Pasteurellaceae, it seems as if this gene is less representative than any of the others used in our study. This has previously been observed within the family Pasteurellaceae as well as the genus Campylobacter from the fact that rpoB-based phylogeny is in better agreement with the results of DNADNA hybridization than rrs-based phylogeny (Korczak et al., 2004
, 2006
). Therefore, the rrs gene might be suitable for analysing distantly related taxa, but genes other than rrs might prove to be more informative for phylogeny and taxonomy in other bacterial families and genera.
|
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |
|---|
| REFERENCES |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Angen, O., Ahrens, P., Kuhnert, P., Christensen, H. & Mutters, R. (2003). Proposal of Histophilus somni gen. nov., sp. nov. for the three species incertae sedis Haemophilus somnus, Haemophilus agni and Histophilus ovis. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 53, 14491456.
Blackall, P. J., Christensen, H., Beckenham, T., Blackall, L. L. & Bisgaard, M. (2005). Reclassification of Pasteurella gallinarum, [Haemophilus] paragallinarum, Pasteurella avium and Pasteurella volantium as Avibacterium gallinarum gen. nov., comb. nov., Avibacterium paragallinarum comb. nov., Avibacterium avium comb. nov. and Avibacterium volantium comb. nov. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 55, 353362.
Brenner, D. J., McWhorter, A. C., Knutson, J. K. & Steigerwalt, A. G. (1982). Escherichia vulneris: a new species of Enterobacteriaceae associated with human wounds. J Clin Microbiol 15, 11331140.
Christensen, H. & Bisgaard, M. (2004). Revised definition of Actinobacillus sensu stricto isolated from animals. A review with special emphasis on diagnosis. Vet Microbiol 99, 1330.[CrossRef][Medline]
Christensen, H., Bisgaard, M. & Olsen, J. E. (2002). Reclassification of equine isolates previously reported as Actinobacillus equuli, variants of A. equuli, A. suis or taxon 11 of Bisgaard and proposal of two subspecies of A. equuli: A. equuli subsp. equuli and A. equuli subsp. haemolyticus. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 52, 15691576.[Abstract]
Christensen, H., Bisgaard, M., Bojesen, A. M., Mutters, R. & Olsen, J. E. (2003a). Genetic relationships among avian isolates classified as Pasteurella haemolytica, Actinobacillus salpingitidis or Pasteurella anatis with proposal of Gallibacterium anatis gen. nov., comb. nov. and description of additional genomospecies within Gallibacterium gen. nov. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 53, 275287.
Christensen, H., Foster, G., Christensen, J. P., Pennycott, T., Olsen, J. E. & Bisgaard, M. (2003b). Phylogenetic analysis by 16S rDNA gene sequence comparison of avian taxa of Bisgaard and characterization and description of two new taxa of Pasteurellaceae. J Appl Microbiol 95, 354363.[CrossRef][Medline]
Christensen, H., Bisgaard, M., Aalbaek, B. & Olsen, J. E. (2004a). Reclassification of Bisgaard taxon 33 with proposal of Volucribacter psittacicida gen. nov., sp. nov. and Volucribacter amazonae sp. nov. as new members of Pasteurellaceae. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 54, 813818.
Christensen, H., Kuhnert, P., Olsen, J. E. & Bisgaard, M. (2004b). Comparative phylogenies of the housekeeping genes atpD, infB and rpoB and the 16S rRNA gene within the Pasteurellaceae. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 54, 16011609.
Davies, R. L. (2004). Genetic diversity among Pasteurella multocida strains of avian, bovine, ovine and porcine origin from England and Wales by comparative sequence analysis of the 16S rRNA gene. Microbiology 150, 41994210.
Donachie, W., Lainson, F. A. & Hodgson, J. C. (1995). Haemophilus, Actinobacillus, and Pasteurella. New York: Plenum.
Fleischmann, R. D., Adams, M. D., White, O. & 7 other authors (1995). Whole-genome random sequencing and assembly of Haemophilus influenzae Rd. Science 269, 496512.
Gautier, A. L., Dubois, D., Escande, F., Avril, J. L., Trieu-Cuot, P. & Gaillot, O. (2005). Rapid and accurate identification of human isolates of Pasteurella and related species by sequencing the sodA gene. J Clin Microbiol 43, 23072314.
Gevers, D., Cohan, F. M., Lawrence, J. G. & 8 other authors (2005). Opinion: re-evaluating prokaryotic species. Nat Rev Microbiol 3, 733739.[CrossRef][Medline]
Goodfellow, M., Manfio, G. P. & Chun, J. (1997). Towards a practical species concept for cultivable bacteria. In Species: the Units of Biodiversity, pp. 2559. Edited by M. F. Claridge, H. A. Dawah & M. R. Wilson. London: Chapman and Hall.
Hedegaard, J., Okkels, H., Bruun, B., Kilian, M., Mortensen, K. K. & Norskov-Lauritsen, N. (2001). Phylogeny of the genus Haemophilus as determined by comparison of partial infB sequences. Microbiology 147, 25992609.
Hong, S. H., Kim, J. S., Lee, S. Y. & 7 other authors (2004). The genome sequence of the capnophilic rumen bacterium Mannheimia succiniciproducens. Nat Biotechnol 22, 12751281.[CrossRef][Medline]
Korczak, B., Christensen, H., Emler, S., Frey, J. & Kuhnert, P. (2004). Phylogeny of the family Pasteurellaceae based on rpoB sequences. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 54, 13931399.
Korczak, B. M., Stieber, R., Emler, S., Burnens, A. P., Frey, J. & Kuhnert, P. (2006). Genetic relatedness within the genus Campylobacter inferred from rpoB sequences. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 56, 937945.
Kuhnert, P., Boerlin, P., Emler, S., Krawinkler, M. & Frey, J. (2000). Phylogenetic analysis of Pasteurella multocida subspecies and molecular identification of feline P. multocida subsp. septica by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Int J Med Microbiol 290, 599604.[Medline]
Kuhnert, P., Frey, J., Lang, N. P. & Mayfield, L. (2002). A phylogenetic analysis of Prevotella nigrescens, Prevotella intermedia and Porphyromonas gingivalis field strains reveals a clear species clustering. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 52, 13911395.[Abstract]
Kuhnert, P., Korczak, B., Falsen, E., Straub, R., Hoops, A., Boerlin, P., Frey, J. & Mutters, R. (2004). Nicoletella semolina gen.nov., sp.nov., a new member of Pasteurellaceae isolated from horses with airway disease. J Clin Microbiol 42, 55425548.
May, B. J., Zhang, Q., Li, L. L., Paustian, M. L., Whittam, T. S. & Kapur, V. (2001). Complete genomic sequence of Pasteurella multocida, Pm70. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 98, 34603465.
Moller, K., Fussing, V., Grimont, P. A. D., Paster, B. J., Dewhirst, F. E. & Kilian, M. (1996). Actinobacillus minor sp. nov., Actinobacillus porcinus sp. nov., and Actnobacillus indolicus sp. nov., three new V factor-dependent species from the respiratory tract of pigs. Int J Syst Bacteriol 46, 951956.
Mutters, R., Mannheim, W. & Bisgaard, M. (1989). Taxonomy of the group. In Pasteurella and Pasteurellosis, pp. 334. Edited by C. Adlam & J. M. Rutter. London: Academic Press.
Norskov-Lauritsen, N., Christensen, H., Okkels, H., Kilian, M. & Bruun, B. (2004). Delineation of the genus Actinobacillus by comparison of partial infB sequences. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 54, 635644.
Olsen, I., Dewhirst, F. E., Paster, B. J. & Busse, H. J. (2005). Family Pasteurellaceae. In Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology. Edited by R. Garrity. New York: Springer.
Olsen, I. & Moller, K. (2005). Genus Actinobacillus Brumpt 1919, 849AL. In Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology. Edited by R. Garrity. New York: Springer.
Pohl, S. (1981). DNA relatedness among members of Haemophilus, Pasteurella and Actinobacillus. In Haemophilus, Pasteurella and Actinobacillus, p. 253. Edited by M. Kilian, W. Frederiksen & E. L. Biberstein. London: Academic Press.
Stackebrandt, E., Frederiksen, W., Garrity, G. M. & 10 other authors (2002). Report of the ad hoc committee for the re-evaluation of the species definition in bacteriology. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 52, 10431047.[Abstract]
Thompson, J. D., Gibson, T. J., Plewniak, F., Jeanmougin, F. & Higgins, D. G. (1997). The CLUSTAL_X windows interface: flexible strategies for multiple sequence alignment aided by quality analysis tools. Nucleic Acids Res 25, 48764882.
Wayne, L. G., Brenner, D. J., Colwell, R. R. & 9 other authors (1987). Report of the ad hoc committee on reconciliation of approaches to bacterial systematics. Int J Syst Bacteriol 37, 463464.
Zeigler, D. R. (2003). Gene sequences useful for predicting relatedness of whole genomes in bacteria. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 53, 18931900.
Received 13 March 2006;
revised 19 May 2006;
accepted 23 May 2006.
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
M. Bisgaard, B. M. Korczak, H.-J. Busse, P. Kuhnert, A. M. Bojesen, and H. Christensen Classification of the taxon 2 and taxon 3 complex of Bisgaard within Gallibacterium and description of Gallibacterium melopsittaci sp. nov., Gallibacterium trehalosifermentans sp. nov. and Gallibacterium salpingitidis sp. nov. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol, April 1, 2009; 59(4): 735 - 744. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
D. Costechareyre, F. Bertolla, and X. Nesme Homologous Recombination in Agrobacterium: Potential Implications for the Genomic Species Concept in Bacteria Mol. Biol. Evol., January 1, 2009; 26(1): 167 - 176. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
F. Dousse, A. Thomann, I. Brodard, B. M. Korczak, Y. Schlatter, P. Kuhnert, R. Miserez, and J. Frey Routine phenotypic identification of bacterial species of the family Pasteurellaceae isolated from animals J Vet Diagn Invest, November 1, 2008; 20(6): 716 - 724. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
T. Adekambi, T. M. Shinnick, D. Raoult, and M. Drancourt Complete rpoB gene sequencing as a suitable supplement to DNA-DNA hybridization for bacterial species and genus delineation Int J Syst Evol Microbiol, August 1, 2008; 58(8): 1807 - 1814. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
M. Bisgaard, J. P. Christensen, A. M. Bojesen, and H. Christensen Avibacterium endocarditidis sp. nov., isolated from valvular endocarditis in chickens Int J Syst Evol Microbiol, August 1, 2007; 57(8): 1729 - 1734. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
P. Kuhnert, B. M. Korczak, H. Christensen, and M. Bisgaard Emended description of Actinobacillus capsulatus Arseculeratne 1962, 38AL Int J Syst Evol Microbiol, March 1, 2007; 57(3): 625 - 632. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
H. Christensen, P. Kuhnert, H.-J. Busse, W. C. Frederiksen, and M. Bisgaard Proposed minimal standards for the description of genera, species and subspecies of the Pasteurellaceae Int J Syst Evol Microbiol, January 1, 2007; 57(1): 166 - 178. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| INT J SYST EVOL MICROBIOL | MICROBIOLOGY | J GEN VIROL |
| J MED MICROBIOL | ALL SGM JOURNALS | |