Corrigendum: The Enterococcus secretome inhibits the growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex mycobacteria.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1099/acmi.0.000471.v3.].

The Enterococcus secretome inhibits the growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex mycobacteria.

Enterococcus mundtii , a commensal intestinal bacterium, was demonstrated to inhibit the growth of some Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC) species that cause tuberculosis in humans and mammals. To further explore this preliminary observation, we cross-investigated five E. mundtii strains and seven MTC strains representative of four MTC species using a standardized quantitative agar well diffusion assay. All five E. mundtii strains, calibrated at 10 MacFarland, inhibited the growth of all M. tuberculosis strains with various susceptibility profiles, but no inhibition was observed with lower inoculums. Further, eight E. mundtii freeze-dried cell-free culture supernatants (CFCS) inhibited the growth of M. tuberculosis , Mycobacterium africanum, Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium canettii, the most susceptible MTC species (inhibition diameter 25±1 mm), proportionally to CFCS protein concentrations. The data reported here indicate that the E. mundtii secretome inhibited growth of all MTC species of medical interest, which broadens previously reported data. In the gut, the E. mundtii secretome may modulate the expression of tuberculosis, exhibiting an anti-tuberculosis effect, with some protective roles in human and animal health.

Translocating Mycobacterium ulcerans: An experimental model.

Mycobacterium ulcerans is a non-tuberculous environmental mycobacterium responsible for extensive cutaneous and subcutaneous ulcers in mammals, known as Buruli ulcer in humans. M. ulcerans has seldom been detected in the faeces of mammals and has not been detected in human faeces. Nevertheless, the detection and isolation of M. ulcerans in animal faeces does not fit with the current epidemiological schemes for the disease. Here, using an experimental model in which rats were fed with 109 colony-forming units of M. ulcerans, we detected M. ulcerans DNA in the faeces of challenged rats for two weeks and along their digestive tract for 10 days. M. ulcerans DNA was further detected in the lymphatic system including in the cervical and axillary lymph nodes and the spleen, but not in any other tissue including healthy and broken skin, 10 days post-challenge. These observations indicate that in some herbivorous mammals, M. ulcerans contamination by the digestive route may precede translocation and limited contamination of the lymphatic tissues without systemic infection. These herbivorous mammals may be sources of M. ulcerans for exposed populations but are unlikely to be reservoirs for the pathogen.

Culturomics Discloses Anti-Tubercular Enterococci Exclusive of Pulmonary Tuberculosis: A Preliminary Report.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis causes pulmonary tuberculosis, a deadly infection of which the clinical expression and prognosis are not fully understood at the individual level, apart from genetic susceptibility traits. We investigated whether individual gut microbiota may correlate with pulmonary tuberculosis status. Culturomics investigations of gut microbiota in two pulmonary tuberculosis patients and two controls in Burkina Faso found 60 different bacterial species in patients and 97 in controls, including 45 in common. Further analysis of the results at the individual level indicated seven bacteria, including Enterococcus mundtii and Enterococcus casseliflavus, which were exclusively cultured in controls. Blind quantitative PCR-based exploration of faeces samples in two cohorts in Burkina Faso and in France confirmed a nonsignificant association of E. mundtii and E. casseliflavus with controls. Further in vitro explorations found four E. mundtii and E. casseliflavus strains inhibiting the growth of M. tuberculosis strains representative of four different lineages as well as Mycobacterium africanum, Mycobacterium canettii, and Mycobacterium bovis, in an inoculum-dependent manner. Heat-killed E. mundtii or E. casseliflavus were ineffective. These unprecedented observations of direct interactions between gut E. mundtii and E. casseliflavus with M. tuberculosis complex mycobacteria suggest that gut microbiota may modulate the expression of pulmonary tuberculosis.

Fluorescent Hybridization of Mycobacterium leprae in Skin Samples Collected in Burkina Faso.

Leprosy is caused by Mycobacterium leprae, and it remains underdiagnosed in Burkina Faso. We investigated the use of fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) for detecting M. leprae in 27 skin samples (skin biopsy samples, slit skin samples, and skin lesion swabs) collected from 21 patients from Burkina Faso and three from Côte d'Ivoire who were suspected of having cutaneous leprosy. In all seven Ziehl-Neelsen-positive skin samples (four skin biopsy samples and three skin swabs collected from the same patient), FISH specifically identified M. leprae, including one FISH-positive skin biopsy sample that remained negative after testing with PCR targeting the rpoB gene and with the GenoType LepraeDR assay. Twenty other skin samples and three negative controls all remained negative for Ziehl-Neelsen staining, FISH, and rpoB PCR. These data indicate the usefulness of a microscopic examination of skin samples after FISH for first-line diagnosis of cutaneous leprosy. Accordingly, FISH represents a potentially useful point-of-care test for the diagnosis of cutaneous leprosy.

Shell-vial Assay in Diagnosis of Disseminated BCG Infection in an Immunodeficient Child.

We are reporting a case of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine-disseminated infection in a 19-month-old HIV-negative girl diagnosed with severe combined immunodeficiency. While standard culture protocols failed to isolate and culture the Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette-Guérin strain, it was isolated from skin and mesenteric lymph node biopsies using the shell-vial assay, allowing whole-genome sequencing and in silico drug susceptibility testing.

Translocation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis after experimental ingestion.

Human tuberculosis is a life-threatening infection following the inhalation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, while the closely related bacteria Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium canettii are thought to be transmitted by ingestion. To explore whether M. tuberculosis could also infect individuals by ingestion, male BALBc mice were fed 2 x 106 CFUs of M. tuberculosis Beijing or phosphate-buffered saline as a negative control, over a 28-day experiment. While eight negative control mice remained disease-free, M. tuberculosis was identified in the lymph nodes and lungs of 8/14 mice and in the spleens of 4/14 mice by microscopy, PCR-based detection and culture. Whole-genome sequencing confirmed the identity of the inoculum and the tissue isolates. In these genetically identical mice, the dissemination of M. tuberculosis correlated with the results of the culture detection of four intestinal bacteria. These observations indicate that ingested M. tuberculosis mycobacteria can translocate, notably provoking lymphatic tuberculosis.

Routine Culture-Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis Rescue and Shell-Vial Assay, France.

We used shell-vial assay with a medium that buffered rifampin to isolate routine culture-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria from cerebrospinal fluid and rifampin-containing intervertebral disc and vertebral corpus of a patient in treatment for Pott's disease and disseminated tuberculosis. Whole-genome sequencing confirmed M. tuberculosis lineage 4 (Euro-American) strain.

Genome Sequence of Enorma sp. Strain Marseille-P9525T, a Member of a Human Gut Microbiome.

Strain Marseille-P9525T was isolated from the gut microbiota of a 28-year-old woman and exhibits a 2.23-Mb (G+C content, 66.8%) draft genome sequence containing 1,902 protein-coding genes, 49 tRNAs, and 3 rRNAs. The 16S rRNA sequencing and in silico DNA-DNA hybridization indicated that strain Marseille-P9525T represents a new species to be described.

Nine Cases of Methanogenic Archaea in Refractory Sinusitis, an Emerging Clinical Entity.

The authors report the cases of 9 patients eventually diagnosed with methanogenic archaea refractory or recalcitrant chronic rhinosinusitis, a condition known to involve various anaerobic bacteria but in which the role of methanogenic archaea is unknown. The authors retrospectively searched these microorganisms by PCR in surgically-collected sinusal pus specimens from patients diagnosed with refractory sinusitis, defined by the persistance of sinus inflammation and related-symptoms for more than 12 weeks despite appropriate treatment. Of the 116 tested sinus surgical specimens, 12 (10.3%) from 9 patients (six females, three males; aged 20-71 years) were PCR-positive. These specimens were further investigated by fluorescence in-situ hybridization, PCR amplicon-sequencing and culture. Methanobrevibacter smithii was documented in four patients and Methanobrevibacter oralis in another four, one of whom was also culture-positive. They were associated with a mixed flora including Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. In the latter patient, "Methanobrevibacter massiliense" was the sole microorganism detected. These results highlight methanogenic archaea as being part of a mixed anaerobic flora involved in refractory sinusitis, and suggest that the treatment of this condition should include an antibiotic active against methanogens, notably a nitroimidazole derivative.

Recurrent bilateral Mycobacterium bovis necrotizing epididymitis: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Mycobacterium bovis causing tuberculosis in animals is responsible for zoonotic tuberculosis in patients. Veterinary control measures and milk pasteurization has led to a significant decrease in human cases of M. bovis infections in developed countries. CASE PRESENTATION: We diagnosed recurrent M. bovis epididymitis in a 63-year old Caucasian man without any signs of pulmonary or disseminated disease. Relevant epidemiological expositions included camel milk drinking during prolonged travels in Niger, prior to initial clinical manifestations. The diagnosis was firmly established by mass spectrometry and DNA sequencing on epididymis surgical biopsy specimens. We detail therapeutic management which included surgical epididymectomy and hydrocele repair. CONCLUSION: As for other M. tuberculosis complex species, the genitourinary tract represents a frequent site of secondary dissemination and latency for M. bovis. Isolated epididymis infection is a newly documented manifestation of M. bovis disease.

Draft Genome Sequence of "Nocardia suismassiliense" Strain S-137 (CSUR P4007).

"Nocardia suismassiliense" strain S-137 isolated from Sus scrofa feces exhibits a 9.4-Mb (67.1% GC content) draft genome sequence containing 8,658 protein-coding genes, 66 tRNAs, and 9 rRNAs. In silico DNA-DNA hybridization confirmed strain S-137 as representative of a new species, "Nocardia suismassiliense," closely related to N. tenerifensis and N. brasiliensis.

Mycobacterium malmoense pulmonary infection in France: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Mycobacterium malmoense infections have frequently been reported in northern Europe since the late 1970s. Factors accounting for this geographically localized epidemiology remain poorly understood. CASE PRESENTATION: We report the case of a 54-year old man concomitantly diagnosed with non-small cell lung carcinoma and M. malmoense pulmonary infection. We present detailed clinical, microbiological and radiological elements strongly arguing for M. malmoense true pathogenicity. Since M. malmoense infection has rarely been reported in France, we also provide elements of the epidemiological investigation and a literature review of potential acquisition and transmission pathways of M. malmoense. We detail therapeutic interventions and subsequent favorable evolution. CONCLUSION: Mycobacterium malmoense is a recognized respiratory pathogen for which routes of infection need to be better investigated.