Staphylococcus pseudintermedius sp. nov., a coagulase-positive species from animals

1 Department of Pathology, Bacteriology and Poultry Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, B-9820 Merelbeke, Belgium 2 BCCM/LMG Bacteria Collection, Laboratory of Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Gent, Belgium 3 Department of Clinical Chemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent University, De Pintelaan 185, B-9000 Gent, Belgium Correspondence Marc Vancanneyt Marc.Vancanneyt{at}UGent.be Four staphylococcal isolates from clinical and necropsy specimens from a cat, a dog, a horse and a parrot ( Psittacus erithacus timneh ) were found to constitute a distinct taxon. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed that its closest phylogenetic relatives are Staphylococcus intermedius and Staphylococcus delphini . Growth characteristics, biochemical features and DNA–DNA hybridizations demonstrated that the strains differ from these and other known species and that they represent a single, novel Staphylococcus species for which the name Staphylococcus pseudintermedius sp. nov. is proposed. The novel species is commonly confused with S. intermedius in routine diagnostic veterinary bacteriology. Although the strains described were isolated from lesions and show several characteristics typical of pathogenic staphylococci, such as coagulase, DNase and -haemolysin production, the pathogenic significance of the novel species remains unclear. The type strain, LMG 22219 T (=ON 86 T =CCUG 49543 T ), was isolated from lung tissue of a cat. Published online ahead of print on 14 March 2005 as DOI 10.1099/ijs.0.63413-0. The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession numbers for the 16S rRNA gene sequences of strains LMG 22219 T , LMG 22220, LMG 22221 and LMG 22222 are AJ780976 , AJ780977 , AJ780978 and AJ780979 , respectively.