Funke G, Efstratiou A, Kuklinska D, Hutson R A, De Zoysa A, Engler K H, Collins M D
Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Zürich,
J Clin Microbiol. 1997 Aug;35(8):1978-83. doi: 10.1128/jcm.35.8.1978-1983.1997.
A 5-month-old boy of a Romanian family traveling via Ukraine to Poland developed a respiratory disease that resembled and that was initially diagnosed as pharyngeal diphtheria. The child recovered after treatment with antidiphtheria antitoxin. A coryneform bacterium had been isolated from a nasopharyngeal specimen from the child and was initially identified as an atypical Corynebacterium diphtheriae strain. Seven adults who had contact with either the child or an adult contact person also developed symptoms of pharyngeal diphtheria, were also treated with antitoxin, and recovered uneventfully. Coryneform bacteria similar to that originating from the index patient were also isolated from the throat swabs of three adults. Detailed biochemical and chemotaxonomic investigations revealed that the coryneform bacteria belonged to the genus Corynebacterium and could be differentiated from all other defined species of this genus. Ribotyping and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis demonstrated that all four patients' isolates were of clonal origin. The diphtheria toxin gene and its product were not detected either by PCR assays or by the Elek test, making a possible disease association of the Corynebacterium more unlikely. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed that the coryneform bacterium represented a new subline within the genus Corynebacterium, for which the name Corynebacterium imitans sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is NCTC 13015 (DSM 44264; CCUG 36877).
一个罗马尼亚家庭的5个月大男童经乌克兰前往波兰，患上了一种呼吸道疾病，症状类似咽白喉，最初被诊断为咽白喉。该患儿经白喉抗毒素治疗后康复。从患儿鼻咽标本中分离出一种棒状杆菌，最初被鉴定为非典型白喉棒状杆菌菌株。与该患儿或一名成年接触者有接触的7名成年人也出现了咽白喉症状，也接受了抗毒素治疗，且顺利康复。从3名成年人的咽拭子中也分离出了与首例患者来源相似的棒状杆菌。详细的生化和化学分类学研究表明，这些棒状杆菌属于棒状杆菌属，可与该属其他所有已定义的物种区分开来。核糖体分型和脉冲场凝胶电泳表明，4名患者的分离株均为克隆起源。通过聚合酶链反应检测和Elek试验均未检测到白喉毒素基因及其产物，这使得该棒状杆菌与疾病的关联可能性更小。16S rRNA基因序列比较分析表明，该棒状杆菌代表棒状杆菌属内的一个新亚系，为此提出新种名为模仿棒状杆菌（Corynebacterium imitans sp. nov.）。模式菌株为NCTC 13015（DSM 44264；CCUG 36877）。
