HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Google Scholar Articles by Leclerque, A. Articles by Kleespies, R. G. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Leclerque, A. Articles by Kleespies, R. G. Agricola Articles by Leclerque, A. Articles by Kleespies, R. G.

16S rRNA-, GroEL- and MucZ-based assessment of the taxonomic position of ‘Rickettsiella melolonthae’ and its implications for the organization of the genus Rickettsiella

Federal Biological Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry (BBA), Institute for Biological Control, Heinrichstr. 243, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany

Correspondence
Andreas Leclerque
leclerque{at}hotmail.com

‘Rickettsiella melolonthae’ is an intracellularly multiplying bacterial pathogen of European cockchafers, Melolontha melolontha (Linnaeus, 1758) and Melolontha hippocastani (Fabricius, 1801) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). We report the first determination of nucleotide sequences from this organism, i.e. the 16S rRNA encoding rrs gene, the chaperonin encoding groEL gene and the mucZ gene encoding the orthologue of a capsule synthesis-inducing factor of Coxiella burnetii. Within the genus Rickettsiella, the pathotype ‘Rickettsiella melolonthae’ is currently classified as a synonym of the nomenclatural type species Rickettsiella popilliae. Previous sequencing of a 16S rRNA gene from a different species, Rickettsiella grylli, has motivated the transfer of the entire genus from the alphaproteobacterial order Rickettsiales to the gammaproteobacterial order Legionellales, family Coxiellaceae. We investigated the validity of this taxonomic reorganization beyond the species Rickettsiella grylli by reconstructing the organismal phylogeny from comparisons of 16S rRNA gene and GroEL and MucZ protein sequences from a selected set of alpha- and gammaproteobacteria as well as bacterial pathogens from the order Chlamydiales. Our analysis strongly supported the transfer of the genus Rickettsiella to the order Legionellales, but not its classification in one of the recognized families present in this order. Furthermore, our results substantiated inconsistencies in the internal organization of the genus. In particular, the currently accepted delineation of Rickettsiella species and the claimed synonymy of ‘Rickettsiella melolonthae’ with Rickettsiella popilliae are not simultaneously consistent with our findings.

The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession numbers for the rrs, groEL and mucZ gene sequences of ‘Rickettsiella melolonthae’ are EF408231, EF635858 and EF635859, respectively.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. Leclerque, R. Cordaux, and D. Bouchon Reorganization and Monophyly of the Genus Rickettsiella: All in Good Time Appl. Envir. Microbiol., August 15, 2008; 74(16): 5263 - 5264. [Full Text] [PDF]