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Description of Bartonella schoenbuchii sp. nov. Bartonella schoenbuchii (schoen.buch«i.i. N.L. gen. n. schoenbuchii from Schonbuch, a nature park near Tubingen in south­west Germany where most of the roe deer analysed in this study were shot). Growth obtained on Columbia agar base supplemented with 5% defibrinated sheep blood in a moist atmosphere containing 5% CO. Colonies ap­ # pear in primary culture within 4–6 d as firm adherent, deeply invaginated, cauliflower­like colonies which upon passaging may switch to a more rapidly growing, shiny and smooth colony phenotype. The Gramnegative, monopolar politrichous flagellated rods are approximately 1–2‹0–5 lm, aerobic and negative for oxidase, indole, catalase and urea hydrolysis. The code for preformed enzymes obtained in the RapID ANA II system is 000 671. The biotype code using Rapid ID 32A was 0000 0737 05 or 0000 0337 05, depending on the strain analysed. The major fatty acids are cis ­11­ octadecanoic acid (C: x7 c), octadecanoic acid ") " (C) and hexadecanoic acid (C), similar as "):! "’:! observed for other Bartonella species. The four strains thus far isolated from the blood of healthy roe deer display phenotypic and genotypic differences but belong to a single new species. This new species is distinguished from previously known Bartonella species by the total protein profiles in SDS­PAGE, the banding patterns in the ERIC­PCR, the gltA and 16S rRNA gene sequences, and by whole­DNA hybridization analysis. Type strain is R 1 T, isolated from the blood of a 4­month­old female wild roe deer. Deposited in the National Collection of Type Cultures as NCTC 13165 T and the Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen as DSM 13525 T.

Bartonella species were isolated from 49% of 128 cattle from California and Oklahoma, 90% of 42 mule deer from California, and 15% of 100 elk from California and Oregon. Isolates from all 63 cattle, 14 deer, and 1 elk had the same polymerase chain reaction/restriction fragment length polymorphism profiles. Our findings indicate potential for inter- and intraspecies transmission among ruminants, as well as risk that these Bartonella spp. could act as zoonotic agents.

Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) is a Staphylococcus aureus (SA) exotoxin, which kills human granulocytes and monocytes in vitro. Among 43 SA strains from cutaneous infections, 12 were PVL producers, whereas among 49 blood culture strains, only 1 produced PVL. Most PVL-producing strains (11/22) came from 22 primitive cutaneous infections, especially furuncles and abscesses, while only 1 PVL-producing strain came from 21 secondary infections of dermatoses such as bullous or pruritic diseases. Intradermal injections of PVL in rabbits induced edema, erythema and necrosis; histopathological changes at the injection sites consisted mainly in leukocytoclasis and vascular necrosis. All changes were dose dependent, and previous immunization of rabbits partially neutralized PVL-induced effects. Production of PVL in vivo after injections of bacteria seems to be low, and the histopathological lesions induced in the rabbit skin do not appear to be specifically related to PVL activity. However, PVL is a good candidate as a new virulence factor in cutaneous SA infections.