Nocardia tenerifensis genome identification in a cutaneous granuloma of a cat.

An adult Domestic Longhair cat developed a subcutaneous mass in its tail. Histologically, this mass consisted of ill-defined pyogranulomas centered around aggregates of gram-positive, acid-fast filamentous bacteria, consistent with Nocardia. Due to the lack of fresh samples, DNA was extracted from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue sections and subjected to polymerase chain reaction amplification and DNA sequencing of 16S ribosomal RNA gene encompassing Nocardia sp.-specific sequences. Sequences analyzed using the GenBank database revealed 99.5% homology with Nocardia spp. and had the highest sequence homology of 98.2% with Nocardia tenerifensis among Nocardia spp. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of detection of N. tenerifensis genome associated with cutaneous nocardiosis in an animal.