International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, Vol 52, 165-171, Copyright © 2002 by Society for General Microbiology

Phylogenetic classification of Bartonella species by comparing groEL sequences

Z. Zeaiter, P. E. Fournier, H. Ogata and D. Raoult
Unite des Rickettsies, CNRS UPRES-A 6020, Faculte de Medecine, 27 boulevard Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille Cedex 05, France

Bartonella is a bacterial genus classified in the alpha-Proteobacteria on the basis of 16S rDNA sequence comparison. The highly conserved heat-shock chaperonin protein, GroEL, has proved to be a valuable resolving tool to classify ten Bartonella species. The groEL gene was amplified and sequenced from ten Bartonella isolates: Bartonella alsatica, Bartonella vinsonii subsp. arupensis, Bartonella taylorii, Bartonella tribocorum, Bartonella birtlesii, Bartonella henselae Marseille (URLLY8), B. henselae (90-615), B. henselae (Fizz), B. henselae (CAL-1) and B. henselae (SA-2). Then, phylogenetic relationships were inferred between our isolates and eight other species and subspecies from the comparison of both 16S rDNA and groEL sequences using parsimony, neighbour-joining and maximum-likelihood methods. By using groEL sequences, the first reliable classification of most known Bartonella species and subspecies was established. Four strongly supported subgroups were distinguished: firstly, the two human pathogens B. henselae and Bartonella quintana; secondly, a cluster including four rodent isolates, Bartonella elizabethae, B. tribocorum, Bartonella grahamii and B. taylorii; thirdly, a cluster including the B. vinsonii subspecies (B. vinsonii subsp. vinsonii, arupensis and berkhoffii); and lastly, B. birtlesii and 'Bartonella weissi'. 'Bartonella washoensis', B. alsatica, Bartonella doshiae, Bartonella bacilliformis and Bartonella clarridgeiae did not reliably cluster with any other Bartonella species. In addition, the groEL gene was shown to be useful in subtyping six B. henselae isolates into three variants: Houston, Marseille and Fizz.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B. Nystedt, A. C. Frank, M. Thollesson, and S. G. E. Andersson Diversifying Selection and Concerted Evolution of a Type IV Secretion System in Bartonella Mol. Biol. Evol., February 1, 2008; 25(2): 287 - 300. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. A. Werner, S. Feng, R. W. Kasten, E. Hodzic, B. B. Chomel, and S. W. Barthold Cloning, Characterization, and Expression of Bartonella henselae p26. Clin. Vaccine Immunol., August 1, 2006; 13(8): 830 - 836. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. Kampfer, R. Rossello-Mora, H. C. Scholz, C. Welinder-Olsson, E. Falsen, and H.-J. Busse Description of Pseudochrobactrum gen. nov., with the two species Pseudochrobactrum asaccharolyticum sp. nov. and Pseudochrobactrum saccharolyticum sp. nov. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol, August 1, 2006; 56(Pt 8): 1823 - 1829. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. D. LOFTIS, W. K. REEVES, D. E. SZUMLAS, M. M. ABBASSY, I. M. HELMY, J. R. MORIARITY, and G. A. DASCH Surveillance of egyptian fleas for agents of public health significance: anaplasma, bartonella, coxiella, ehrlichia, rickettsia, and yersinia pestis. Am J Trop Med Hyg, July 1, 2006; 75(1): 41 - 48. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. E. Hill, A. Paccagnella, K. Law, P. L. Melito, D. L. Woodward, L. Price, A. H. Leung, L.-K. Ng, S. M. Hemmingsen, and S. H. Goh Identification of Campylobacter spp. and discrimination from Helicobacter and Arcobacter spp. by direct sequencing of PCR-amplified cpn60 sequences and comparison to cpnDB, a chaperonin reference sequence database. J. Med. Microbiol., April 1, 2006; 55(Pt 4): 393 - 399. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. La Scola, V. A. K. B. Gundi, A. Khamis, and D. Raoult Sequencing of the rpoB Gene and Flanking Spacers for Molecular Identification of Acinetobacter Species. J. Clin. Microbiol., March 1, 2006; 44(3): 827 - 832. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F. Gouriet, F. Fenollar, J.-Y. Patrice, M. Drancourt, and D. Raoult Use of Shell-Vial Cell Culture Assay for Isolation of Bacteria from Clinical Specimens: 13 Years of Experience J. Clin. Microbiol., October 1, 2005; 43(10): 4993 - 5002. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. G. Maggi and E. B. Breitschwerdt Potential Limitations of the 16S-23S rRNA Intergenic Region for Molecular Detection of Bartonella Species J. Clin. Microbiol., March 1, 2005; 43(3): 1171 - 1176. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B Dillon and J Iredell DdeI RFLP for 16S rDNA typing in Bartonella henselae J. Med. Microbiol., December 1, 2004; 53(12): 1263 - 1265. [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Iredell, D. Blanckenberg, M. Arvand, S. Grauling, E. J. Feil, and R. J. Birtles Characterization of the Natural Population of Bartonella henselae by Multilocus Sequence Typing J. Clin. Microbiol., November 1, 2003; 41(11): 5071 - 5079. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. Johnson, M. Ayers, S. C. C. McClure, S. E. Richardson, and R. Tellier Detection and Identification of Bartonella Species Pathogenic for Humans by PCR Amplification Targeting the Riboflavin Synthase Gene (ribC) J. Clin. Microbiol., March 1, 2003; 41(3): 1069 - 1072. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. Dillon, J. Valenzuela, R. Don, D. Blanckenberg, D. I. Wigney, R. Malik, A. J. Morris, J. M. Robson, and J. Iredell Limited Diversity among Human Isolates of Bartonella henselae J. Clin. Microbiol., December 1, 2002; 40(12): 4691 - 4699. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Iredell, J. McHattan, P. Kyme, B. Dillon, and D. Blanckenberg Antigenic and Genotypic Relationships between Bartonella henselae Strains J. Clin. Microbiol., November 1, 2002; 40(11): 4397 - 4398. [Full Text] [PDF]

				Z. Zeaiter, Z. Liang, and D. Raoult Genetic Classification and Differentiation of Bartonella Species Based on Comparison of Partial ftsZ Gene Sequences J. Clin. Microbiol., October 1, 2002; 40(10): 3641 - 3647. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]