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De Giglio O, D’Ambrosio M, Spagnuolo V, Diella G, Fasano F, Leone CM, Lopuzzo M, Trallo V, Calia C, Oliva M, Pazzani C, Iacumin L, Barigelli S, Petricciuolo M, Federici E, Lisena FP, Minicucci AM, Montagna MT. Legionella anisa or Legionella bozemanii? Traditional and molecular techniques as support in the environmental surveillance of a hospital water network. Environ Monit Assess 2023; 195:496. [PMID: 36947259 PMCID: PMC10033568 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-023-11078-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2022] [Accepted: 03/02/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the actual distribution of different Legionella species in water networks would help prevent outbreaks. Culture investigations followed by serological agglutination tests, with poly/monovalent antisera, still represent the gold standard for isolation and identification of Legionella strains. However, also MALDI-TOF and mip-gene sequencing are currently used. This study was conducted to genetically correlate strains of Legionella non pneumophila (L-np) isolated during environmental surveillance comparing different molecular techniques. Overall, 346 water samples were collected from the water system of four pavilions located in a hospital of the Apulia Region of Italy. Strains isolated from the samples were then identified by serological tests, MALDI-TOF, and mip-gene sequencing. Overall, 24.9% of water samples were positive for Legionella, among which the majority were Legionella pneumophila (Lpn) 1 (52.3%), followed by Lpn2-15 (20.9%), L-np (17.4%), Lpn1 + Lpn2-15 (7.1%), and L-np + Lpn1 (2.3%). Initially, L-np strains were identified as L. bozemanii by monovalent antiserum, while MALDI-TOF and mip-gene sequencing assigned them to L. anisa. More cold water than hot water samples were contaminated by L. anisa (p < 0.001). PFGE, RAPD, Rep-PCR, and SAU-PCR were performed to correlate L. anisa strains. Eleven out of 14 strains identified in all four pavilions showed 100% of similarity upon PFGE analysis. RAPD, Rep-PCR, and SAU-PCR showed greater discriminative power than PFGE.
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Affiliation(s)
- Osvalda De Giglio
- Interdisciplinary Department of Medicine, Section of Hygiene, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Piazza G. Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
| | - Marilena D’Ambrosio
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Human Oncology, Section of Hygiene, Medical School, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Piazza G. Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
| | - Valentina Spagnuolo
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Human Oncology, Section of Hygiene, Medical School, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Piazza G. Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
| | - Giusy Diella
- Interdisciplinary Department of Medicine, Section of Hygiene, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Piazza G. Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
| | - Fabrizio Fasano
- Interdisciplinary Department of Medicine, Section of Hygiene, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Piazza G. Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
| | - Carla Maria Leone
- Present Address: Section Hygiene - AOU Policlinico of Bari, Piazza G. Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
| | - Marco Lopuzzo
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Human Oncology, Section of Hygiene, Medical School, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Piazza G. Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
| | - Valeria Trallo
- Present Address: Section Hygiene - AOU Policlinico of Bari, Piazza G. Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
| | - Carla Calia
- Department of Biology, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Via Orabona 4, 70126 Bari, Italy
| | - Marta Oliva
- Department of Biology, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Via Orabona 4, 70126 Bari, Italy
| | - Carlo Pazzani
- Department of Biology, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Via Orabona 4, 70126 Bari, Italy
| | - Lucilla Iacumin
- Department of Agricultural, Food, Environmental and Animal Science, University of Udine, Via Sondrio 2/a, 33100 Udine, Italy
| | - Sofia Barigelli
- Department of Chemistry, Biology and Biotechnology, University of Perugia, Via del Giochetto, 06122 Perugia, Italy
| | - Maya Petricciuolo
- Department of Chemistry, Biology and Biotechnology, University of Perugia, Via del Giochetto, 06122 Perugia, Italy
| | - Ermanno Federici
- Department of Chemistry, Biology and Biotechnology, University of Perugia, Via del Giochetto, 06122 Perugia, Italy
| | | | - Anna Maria Minicucci
- Health Management, A.O.U. Policlinico of Bari, Piazza G. Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
| | - Maria Teresa Montagna
- Regional Reference Laboratory of Clinical and Environmental Surveillance of Legionellosis, Interdisciplinary Department of Medicine, Section of Hygiene, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Piazza G. Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
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Crespi S, Drašar V, Salvà-Serra F, Jaén-Luchoro D, Piñeiro-Iglesias B, Lindemann PC, Aliaga-Lozano F, Fernández-Juárez V, Coll-García G, Moore ERB, Bennasar-Figueras A. Legionella maioricensis sp. nov., a new species isolated from the hot water distribution systems of a hospital and a shopping center during routine sampling. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2023; 73. [PMID: 36748493 DOI: 10.1099/ijsem.0.005686] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Two Legionella-like strains isolated from hot water distribution systems in 2012 have been characterized phenotypically, biochemically and genomically in terms of DNA relatedness. Both strains, HCPI-6T and EUR-108, exhibited biochemical phenotypic profiles typical of Legionella species. Cells were Gram-negative motile rods which grew on BCYEα agar but not on blood agar and displayed phenotypic characteristics typical of the family Legionellaceae, including a requirement for l-cysteine and testing catalase positive. Both strains were negative for oxidase, urease, nitrate reduction and hippurate negative, and non-fermentative. The major ubiquinone was Q12 (59.4 % HCPI-6T) and the dominant fatty acids were C16 : 1 ω7c (28.4 % HCPI-6T, ≈16 % EUR-108), C16 : 0 iso (≈22.5 % and ≈13 %) and C15 : 0 anteiso (19.5 % and ≈23.5 %, respectively). The percent G+C content of genomic DNA was determined to be 39.3 mol %. The 16S rRNA gene, mip sequence and comparative genome sequence-based analyses (average nucleotide identity, ANI; digital DNA-DNA hybridization, dDDH; and phylogenomic treeing) demonstrated that the strains represent a new species of the genus Legionella. The analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the sequence similarities for both strains ranged from 98.8-90.1 % to other members of the genus. The core genome-based phylogenomic tree (protein-concatemer tree based on concatenation of 418 proteins present in single copy) revealed that these two strains clearly form a separate cluster within the genus Legionella. ANI and dDDH values confirmed the distinctiveness of the strains. Based on the genomic, genotypic and phenotypic findings from a polyphasic study, the isolates are considered to represent a single novel species, for which the name Legionella maioricensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is HCPI-6T (=CCUG 75071T=CECT 30569T).
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Crespi
- Biolinea Int.; Calle Sócrates, 4; ES-07007 Palma de Mallorca, Spain
| | - Vladimír Drašar
- Public Health Institute Ostrava - National Legionella Reference Laboratory; Masarykovo nam., 16; 682 01 Vyškov, Czech Republic
| | - Francisco Salvà-Serra
- Culture Collection University of Gothenburg (CCUG), Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.,Department of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Biomedicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.,Clinical Microbiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital; Region Västra Götaland, Gothenburg, Sweden.,Microbiologia - Departament de Biologia, Universitat de les Illes Balears; Campus UIB - Ctra. Valldemossa, Km 7.5; ES-07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain
| | - Daniel Jaén-Luchoro
- Culture Collection University of Gothenburg (CCUG), Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.,Department of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Biomedicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Beatriz Piñeiro-Iglesias
- Culture Collection University of Gothenburg (CCUG), Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.,Department of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Biomedicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | | | - Francisco Aliaga-Lozano
- Laboratorio Microbiología. Clínica Rotger, Grupo Quirónsalud - Vía Roma, 3, Carrer de Santiago Rusiñol, 9: ES-07012 Palma de Mallorca, Spain
| | - Victor Fernández-Juárez
- Marine Biology Section, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 3000 Helsingør, Denmark
| | - Guillem Coll-García
- Microbiologia - Departament de Biologia, Universitat de les Illes Balears; Campus UIB - Ctra. Valldemossa, Km 7.5; ES-07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain
| | - Edward R B Moore
- Culture Collection University of Gothenburg (CCUG), Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.,Department of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Biomedicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.,Clinical Microbiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital; Region Västra Götaland, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Antoni Bennasar-Figueras
- Microbiologia - Departament de Biologia, Universitat de les Illes Balears; Campus UIB - Ctra. Valldemossa, Km 7.5; ES-07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain
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Iliadi V, Staykova J, Iliadis S, Konstantinidou I, Sivykh P, Romanidou G, Vardikov DF, Cassimos D, Konstantinidis TG. Legionella pneumophila: The Journey from the Environment to the Blood. J Clin Med 2022; 11:jcm11206126. [PMID: 36294446 PMCID: PMC9605555 DOI: 10.3390/jcm11206126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2022] [Revised: 09/26/2022] [Accepted: 10/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
An outbreak of a potentially fatal form of pneumonia in 1976 and in the annual convention of the American Legion was the first time that Legionella spp. was identified. Thereafter, the term Legionnaires’ disease (LD) was established. The infection in humans is transmitted by the inhalation of aerosols that contain the microorganisms that belong to the Legionellaceae family and the genus Legionella. The genus Legionella contains genetically heterogeneous species and serogroups. The Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 (Lp1) is the most often detected strain in outbreaks of LD. The pathogenesis of LD infection initiates with the attachment of the bacterial cells to the host cells, and subsequent intracellular replication. Following invasion, Legionella spp. activates its virulence mechanisms: generation of specific compartments of Legionella-containing vacuole (LCV), and expression of genes that encode a type IV secretion system (T4SS) for the translocation of proteins. The ability of L. pneumophila to transmigrate across the lung’s epithelium barrier leads to bacteremia, spread, and invasion of many organs with subsequent manifestations, complications, and septic shock. The clinical manifestations of LD depend on the bacterial load in the aerosol, the virulence factors, and the immune status of the patient. The infection has two distinct forms: the non- pneumatic form or Pontiac fever, which is a milder febrile flu-like illness, and LD, a more severe form, which includes pneumonia. In addition, the extrapulmonary involvement of LD can include heart, brain, abdomen, and joints.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valeria Iliadi
- Izhevsk State Medical Academy, Kommunarov Street 281, 426034 Izhevsk, Russia
| | - Jeni Staykova
- Faculty of Public Health, Medical University of Sofia, Byalo More Str. 8, 1527 Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - Sergios Iliadis
- Izhevsk State Medical Academy, Kommunarov Street 281, 426034 Izhevsk, Russia
| | | | - Polina Sivykh
- State Budgetary Health City Polyclinic No 2 (GBUZ GB2) of Krasnodar, Seleznev Street 4/10, 350059 Krasnodar, Russia
| | - Gioulia Romanidou
- Nephrology Department, General Hospital “Sismanogleio”, 69100 Komotini, Greece
| | - Daniil F. Vardikov
- Russian Research Center for Radiology and Surgical Technologies of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Tkachey Str. 70-16, 192029 St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Dimitrios Cassimos
- Pediatric Department, Democritus University of Thrace, 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece
| | - Theocharis G. Konstantinidis
- Blood Transfusion Center, University General Hospital of Alexandroupolis Dragana Campus, 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +30-2551-352005
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Girolamini L, Pascale MR, Mazzotta M, Spiteri S, Marino F, Salaris S, Grottola A, Orsini M, Cristino S. Combining Traditional and Molecular Techniques Supports the Discovery of a Novel Legionella Species During Environmental Surveillance in a Healthcare Facility. Front Microbiol 2022; 13:900936. [PMID: 35770167 PMCID: PMC9234573 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.900936] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2022] [Accepted: 04/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Legionella surveillance plays a significant role not only to prevent the risk of infection but also to study the ecology of isolates, their characteristics, and how their prevalence changes in the environment. The difficulty in Legionella isolation, identification, and typing results in a low notification rate; therefore, human infection is still underestimated. In addition, during Legionella surveillance, the special attention given to Legionella pneumophila leads to an underestimation of the prevalence and risk of infection for other species. This study describes the workflow performed during environmental Legionella surveillance that resulted in the isolation of two strains, named 8cVS16 and 9fVS26, associated with the genus Legionella. Traditional and novel approaches such as standard culture technique, MALDI-TOF MS, gene sequencing, and whole-genome sequencing (WGS) analysis were combined to demonstrate that isolates belong to a novel species. The strain characteristics, the differences between macrophage infectivity potential (mip), RNA polymerase β subunit (rpoB), and reference gene sequences, the average nucleotide identity (ANI) of 90.4%, and the DNA–DNA digital hybridization (dDDH) analysis of 43% demonstrate that these isolates belong to a new Legionella species. The finding suggests that, during the culture technique, special attention should be paid to the characteristics of the isolates that are less associated with the Legionella genus in order to investigate the differences found using more sensitive methods. The characterization of the two newly discovered isolates based on morphological, biochemical, and microscopic characteristics is currently underway and will be described in another future study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luna Girolamini
- Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) Study Group for Legionella Infections (ESGLI), Basel, Switzerland
| | - Maria Rosaria Pascale
- Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental, and Materials Engineering, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Marta Mazzotta
- Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Simona Spiteri
- Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- Department of Specialty, Diagnostic and Experimental Medicine, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Federica Marino
- Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Silvano Salaris
- Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Antonella Grottola
- European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) Study Group for Legionella Infections (ESGLI), Basel, Switzerland
- Regional Reference Laboratory for Clinical Diagnosis of Legionellosis, Molecular Microbiology and Virology Unit, University Hospital-Policlinico Modena, Modena, Italy
| | - Massimiliano Orsini
- Laboratory of Microbial Ecology and Genomics of Microorganisms, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Legnaro, Italy
| | - Sandra Cristino
- Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) Study Group for Legionella Infections (ESGLI), Basel, Switzerland
- *Correspondence: Sandra Cristino
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