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ABSTRACTCellulosimicrobium funkeiis a rare, opportunistic pathogen. We describe a case of bacteremia and possibly prosthetic valve endocarditis by this organism in a nonimmunocompromised patient. Useful phenotypic tests for differentiating C. funkeifrom Cellulosimicrobium cellulansand Cellulosimicrobium terreuminclude motility, raffinose fermentation, glycogen, d-xylose, and methyl-a-d-glucopyranoside assimilation, and growth at 35°C.

ABSTRACTWe report the isolation and characterization of a hitherto unknown gram-negative, rod-shaped Neisseria-like organism from an infected wound resulting from a bite from a kinkajou. Based on both phenotypic and phylogenetic evidence, it is proposed that the unknown organism be classified as a new species, Kingella potussp. nov.

ABSTRACTIn the last 15 years, Burkholderia cepaciahas emerged as a significant pathogen in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, mainly due to the severity of infection observed in a subset of patients and the fear of transmission of the organism to noncolonized patients. Although patients who deteriorate rapidly cannot be predicted by microbiological characteristics, three genetic markers have been described for strains that spread between patients. These are the cblAgene, encoding giant cable pili; a hybrid of two insertion sequences, IS1356and IS402; and a 1.4-kb open reading frame known as the B. cepaciaepidemic strain marker (BCESM). The latter two are of unknown function. An epidemic strain lineage was previously identified among CF patients in the United Kingdom that apparently had spread from North America and that was characterized by a specific random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) pattern. We searched for the described genetic markers using specific PCR assays with 117 patient isolates of B. cepaciafrom 40 United Kingdom hospitals. Isolates were grouped according to genomovar and epidemic strain lineage RAPD pattern with a 10-base primer, P272. A total of 41 isolates from patients in 12 hospitals were classified as the epidemic strain, and 40 of these were distributed in genomovars IIIa (11 isolates), IIIb (1 isolate), and IIIc (28 isolates). All isolates of the epidemic strain were positive for the cblAgene and BCESM, but two lacked the insertion sequence hybrid. None of the 76 sporadic isolates contained cblAor the insertion sequence hybrid, but 11 of them were positive for BCESM. Nonepidemic isolates were distributed among genomovars I or IV (9), II (49), IIIa (11), IIIb (3), and IIIc (4). There were three clusters of cross-infection (one involving two patients and two involving three patients) with isolates of genomovar II. We conclude that in the United Kingdom, a single clonal lineage has spread between and within some hospitals providing care for CF patients. The presence of thecblAgene is the most specific marker for the epidemic strain. We recommend that all isolates of B. cepaciafrom CF patients should be screened by PCR to influence segregation and infection control strategies.

ABSTRACTMicrovirgula aerodenitrificansis a denitrifying Gram-negative organism first described by Patureau et al. in 1998 (D. Patureau et al., Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 48:775–782, 1998). The organism has been isolated globally but has never been described as causative of clinical infection. We describe the first human case of bacteremia attributed to M. aerodenitrificansin an infant with Pompe's disease.