Infections due to Vagococcus spp. Microbiological and clinical aspects and literature review.

INTRODUCTION: An increase in recent years in the isolation of Vagococcus spp. is suggestive of emerging infection by this pathogen in our hospital. METHODS: Prospective, descriptive study. PERIOD: July 2014-January 2019. Phenotypic identification of 15 isolates of Vagococcus spp. was performed by conventional biochemical tests, automated methodology and mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). Molecular identification was achieved by sequencing the 16S rRNA gene. The Vitek™ 2C automated system was used to test antibiotic susceptibility. RESULTS: The molecular method identified 11 Vagococcus fluvialis, one Vagococcus lutrae and three Vagococcus spp. MALDI-TOF MS facilitated the rapid recognition of the genus. The most active antibiotics were ampicillin, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, vancomycin, teicoplanin and linezolid. Most of the cases of isolation were associated with skin and soft tissue or osteoarticular infections in patients with diabetes. CONCLUSION: This article is the most extensive review of cases of Vagococcus spp. infection reported in the literature and highlights the microbiological and clinical aspects of this pathogen.

Vagococcus fluvialis isolation and sequencing from urine of healthy cattle.

While the gram-positive bacterium Vagococcus fluvialis has been isolated from the environment as well as fish, birds, and mammals, very little is known about the species. V. fluvialis is believed to be a probiotic in fishes. However, within mammals, it is more frequently isolated from infectious tissue, including on rare occasions human and livestock lesions. Prior to the study described here, V. fluvialis had never been found in healthy bovine animals. Here, we present the complete genomes of V. fluvialis UFMG-H6, UFMG-H6B, and UFMG-H7, novel strains isolated from urine samples from healthy bovine females. These are the first genomes of mammalian isolates and the first description of V. fluvialis from urine. The genomes did not encode for any known virulence genes, suggesting that they may be commensal members of the urine microbiota.

Vagococcus sp. a porcine pathogen: molecular and phenotypic characterization of strains isolated from diseased pigs in Brazil.

INTRODUCTION: Vagococcus spp. is known for its importance as a systemic and zoonotic bacterial pathogen even though it is not often reported in pigs. This is related to the pathogen misidentification due to the lack of usage of more discriminatory diagnostic techniques. Here we present the first report of Vagococcus lutrae in swine and the characterization of Vagococcus fluvialis and Vagococcus lutrae isolated from diseased animals. METHODOLOGY: Between 2012 and 2017, 11 strains with morphological characteristics similar to Streptococcus spp. were isolated from pigs presenting different clinical signs. Bacterial identification was performed by matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry and confirmed by 16S rRNA sequencing and biochemical profile. Strains were further genotyped by single-enzyme amplified fragment length polymorphism (SE-AFLP). Broth microdilution was used to determine the minimal inhibitory concentration of the antimicrobials of veterinary interest. RESULTS: Ten strains were identified as V. fluvialis and one was identified as V. lutrae. The SE-AFLP analysis enabled the species differentiation with specific clustering of all V. fluvialis separately from the V. lutrae strain. Most strains presented growth in the maximum antibiotic concentration values tested for eight of the 10 analyzed antimicrobial classes. CONCLUSIONS: The observed resistance pattern can represent a problem for veterinary and producers in the treatment of diseases associated Vagococcus spp. in swine production. Vagococcus species may also be a risk for pig industry workers. The data described here will be of great value in further understanding the behavior of this pathogen in animal production.

European Foulbrood in stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponini) in Brazil: Old disease, renewed threat.

Stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponini) are a group of bees with vestigial stings showing a high level of social organization. They are important pollinators in tropical and subtropical regions, and, in the last decades, stingless beekeeping has increased rapidly in Brazil. Bee-collected pollen and honey of Apis mellifera can be an important source of disease when used as supplements to feed stingless bee colonies, a common and increasing practice adopted by stingless beekeepers. Here, we aimed to investigate the presence of pathogens commonly found in honey bees in diseased colonies of Melipona species in Espírito Santo and São Paulo States, Southeast Brazil. We detected, for the first time, the bacterium Melissococcus plutonius and symptoms of European foulbrood in Melipona spp., associated with brood death and colony losses in some cases. In addition, we tested for the presence of the bacterium Paenibacillus larvae and the fungus Aschosphaera apis, as well as the six more common honey bee viruses in Brazil (BQCV, ABPV, DWV, KBV, IAPV, CBPV) and the microsporidia Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae. However, only one sample of brood was infected with N. ceranae and all other pathogens, with the exception of Melissococcus plutonius, were absent in the analyzed brood. Lastly, we looked for toxic pollen in all food fed to diseased colonies, but none was present.

Prevalence, typing and phylogenetic analysis of Melissococcus plutonius strains from bee colonies of the State of Chihuahua, Mexico.

European foulbrood (EFB) caused by Melissococcus plutonius is an important bee brood disease but, in Mexico, information about this bacterium is limited. We evaluated the prevalence of typical and atypical strains in beehives of seven apicultural regions of the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. We performed MLST and phylogenetic analysis to characterize the isolates. Prevalence was highest 59%, in the region of Chihuahua, and lowest, 14%, in the regions of Cuauhtémoc and Nuevo Casas Grandes. Typical and atypical strains were identified in hives from all regions; however, in the regions of Parral, Cuauhtémoc and Aldama, the atypical strains were only detected in combination with typical strains. We obtained 81 isolates of M. plutonius and identified seven sequence types, of which three were new types. Additionally, we observed a relation between sequence type and the region where the strain was isolated. Phylogenetic analysis and multilocus sequence typing using goeBURST analysis showed that 97.5% of the isolates correspond to the Clonal Complex (CC) 12 and 2.5% to the CC3. Our work is the first molecular characterization of M. plutonius in Mexico and contributes to global information about the epidemiology of this pathogen.

Culturable symbionts associated with the reproductive and digestive tissues of the Neotropical brown stinkbug Euschistus heros.

Symbionts are widely distributed in eukaryotes, and potentially affect the physiology, ecology and evolution of their host. Most insects harbour free-living bacteria in their haemocoel and gut lumen, intracellular-living bacteria in a range of tissues or bacteria in host-derived specialized cells. Stinkbugs, as do many arthropods, harbour extracellular bacteria in the gut that may affect the fitness of their host. This study identified the culturable symbionts associated with the ovaries, spermatheca, seminal vesicle and posterior midgut region (V4) of males and females of Euschistus heros (F.) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae). Several culture media were used to isolate the bacteria associated with these structures. The selected colonies (morphotypes) were cultured in liquid medium, subjected to genomic DNA extraction, 16S rRNA gene amplification, and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analyses. Morphotypes with distinct RFLP patterns were purified and sequenced, and the sequences obtained were used for putative identification and phylogenetic analysis. Comparison of the sequences with those available in the EzTaxon-e database and the use of a matrix of paired distances grouped the isolates in phylotypes belonging to the Phylum Proteobacteria. Proteobacteria was represented by γ-Proteobacteria phylotypes belonging to Enterobacteriaceae, while Firmicutes had Bacilli phylotypes distributed in Enterococcaceae and Staphylococcaceae. Some of the phylotypes identified were associated exclusively with single structures, such as ovaries, spermatheca and the V4 midgut region of males and females. All culturable bacteria associated with the seminal vesicle were also associated with other tissues.