Pluralibacter gergoviae

Background

Enterobacter gergoviae was first proposed as a novel species in 1980. The species name is derived from the Gergovie plateau, which is located near Clermont-Ferrand University Hospital; the type strain was isolated at this hospital during a nosocomial outbreak of P. gergoviae. In 2013, the species was reclassified into the novel genus, Pluralibacter, and is the type species for the genus.

Pluralibacter gergoviae has been isolated from maize, grapes, coffee beans, spring water, fruit flies, and pink bollworms.

Microbiology

Pluralibacter gergoviae is a Gram negative, non-spore forming, motile, facultatively anaerobic bacillus. It is non-hemolytic and grows at mesophilic temperatures, from 10 - 41°C, with optimum growth at 30 - 37°C. It can produce urease and acetoin, and is hydrogen sulfide, cytochrome-c oxidase, and indole negative. Additionally, it does not ferment inositol, d-sorbitol, and mucate, which distinguishes it from Klebsiella aerogenes (previously Enterobacter aerogenes).

Pluralibacter gergoviae can be grown on trypticase soy agar and Columbia blood agar. However, it does not grow in potassium cyanide broth. Colonies are typically unpigmented, round, and smooth on tryptic soy agar.

Medical Relevance

Pluralibacter gergoviae is an uncommon human pathogen and is most commonly an opportunistic nosocomial infection. One hospital in Spain reported the organism to represent 0.4% of clinical Enterobacter isolates. Risk factors include prolonged hospital stays, immunosuppression, the presence of a foreign device, prior use of anti-microbial agents in the patient involved, and extremes of age. In the cosmetic industry, P. gergoviae has been implicated in recalls of eye cream, children's shampoo, skin cream, hand cleaning paste, and cleansing wipes.

Infections caused by this organism are most frequent in transplant recipients, patients with hematologic malignancies, and in neonatal outbreak settings. Additionally, there has been a report of hyperammonemia syndrome in an immunocompromised lung transplant patient due to P. gergoviae, believed to be triggered by urease production.

When P. gergoviae infection becomes established, it can be difficult to treat due to its intrinsic resistance to many antibiotics. It is resistant to penicillins (specifically benzylpenicillin, oxacillin), macrolides (with the exception of azithromycin), lincosamides (specifically lincomycin and clindamycin), streptogramins, rifampicin, fusidic acid, and fosfomycin. P. gergoviae is also resistant to cefoxitin, likely due to β-lactamase production. In a systematic review of case studies, it was found that 33% of the isolates were multi drug resistant, and all fatal cases involved isolates carrying the blaKPC gene.

References

References

1. (1 July 2013). "Taxonomic evaluation of the genus Enterobacter based on multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA): Proposal to reclassify E. nimipressuralis and E. amnigenus into Lelliottia gen. nov. as Lelliottia nimipressuralis comb. nov. and Lelliottia amnigena comb. nov., respectively, E. gergoviae and E. pyrinus into Pluralibacter gen. nov. as Pluralibacter gergoviae comb. nov. and Pluralibacter pyrinus comb. nov., respectively, E. cowanii, E. radicincitans, E. oryzae and E. arachidis into Kosakonia gen. nov. as Kosakonia cowanii comb. nov., Kosakonia radicincitans comb. nov., Kosakonia oryzae comb. nov. and Kosakonia arachidis comb. nov., respectively, and E. turicensis, E. helveticus and E. pulveris into Cronobacter as Cronobacter zurichensis nom. nov., Cronobacter helveticus comb. nov. and Cronobacter pulveris comb. nov., respectively, and emended description of the genera Enterobacter and Cronobacter". Systematic and Applied Microbiology.
2. (1 January 1980). "Enterobacter gergoviae sp. nov.: a New Species of Enterobacteriaceae Found in Clinical Specimens and the Environment". International Journal of Systematic Bacteriology.
3. (1 April 2006). "Enterobacter gergoviae and the prevalence of efflux in parabens resistance". Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.
4. (August 2014). "Enterobacter gergoviae adaptation to preservatives commonly used in cosmetic industry". International Journal of Cosmetic Science.
5. "Pluralibacter gergoviae 16-74 {{!}} Type strain {{!}} DSM 9245, ATCC 33028, CDC 604-77, CIP 76.01, JCM 1234, LMG 5739, NCTC 11434, CCUG 14557, CECT 857, CIP 76.1, HUT 8110, NBRC 105706, NCIMB 13304 {{!}} BacDiveID:4367".
6. Davin-Regli, Anne. (2019-09-18). "Enterobacter spp.: Update on Taxonomy, Clinical Aspects, and Emerging Antimicrobial Resistance". Clinical Microbiology Reviews.
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