Ralstonia paucula (Formerly CDC Group IV c-2): Unsuccessful Strain Differentiation with PCR-Based Methods, Study of the 16S-23S Spacer of the rRNA Operon, and Comparison with Other Ralstonia Species ( R. eutropha , R. pickettii , R. gilardii , and R. solanacearum )

Abstract

Ralstonia paucula (formerly CDC group IV c-2) can cause serious human infections. Confronted in 1995 with five cases of nosocomial bacteremia, we found that pulsed-field gel electrophoresis could not distinguish between the isolates and that randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis was poorly discriminatory. In this study, we used PCR-ribotyping and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of the spacer 16S-23S ribosomal DNA (rDNA); both methods were unable to differentiate R. paucula isolates. Eighteen strains belonging to other Ralstonia species (one R. eutropha strain, six R. pickettii strains, three R. solanacearum strains, and eight R. gilardii strains) were also tested by PCR-ribotyping, which failed to distinguish between the four species. The 16S-23S rDNA intergenic spacer of R. paucula contains the tRNA Ile and tRNA Ala genes, which are identical to genes described for R. pickettii and R. solanacearum.

Atmospheric Movement of Microorganisms in Clouds of Desert Dust and Implications for Human Health

“…Five viable isolates of Neisseria meningitidis recently identified in settled-dust samples from Kuwait demonstrate that dust can serve as a carrier for the pathogen (141). Other pathogens were also identified in this project (141), including Staphylococcus aureus (wide range of infections), Bacillus circulans, (opportunistic), Bacillus licheniformis (opportunistic, peritonitis), Pantoea agglomerans (opportunistic, peritonitis), Ralstonia paucula, (opportunistic, septicemia, peritonitis, abscess, and tenosynovitis), and Cryptococcus albidus (opportunistic, disseminated) (13,122,136,140,159,179). Given the current state of affairs in the Middle East, many of these opportunistic dust-borne pathogens may play a significant role in human health with regard to combat-related injuries, treatment, and recovery.…”

Antimicrobial susceptibility of uncommonly isolated non-enteric Gram-negative bacilli

“…Because of biochemical similarities, R. pickettii can be confused with members of the B. cepacia complex. Little is known about other members of this genus [62]. This pathogen is able to produce some potent inducible ␤-lactamases [63,64].…”

Characterization of clinically isolated Ralstonia mannitolilytica strains using random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) typing and antimicrobial sensitivity, and comparison of the classification efficacy of phenotypic and genotypic assays

“…Pseudo-outbreaks, due to contaminated laboratory solutions, have been described (Boutros et al, 2002). In addition, Ralstonia paucula and Ralstonia gilardii may be associated with human disease (Moissenet et al, 2001;Vandamme et al, 1999;Wauters et al, 2001). The recently established species Ralstonia mannitolilytica (previously named Pseudomonas thomasii and R. pickettii biovar 3/ 'thomasii') has been isolated from the respiratory tract of patients with cystic fibrosis, and was identified as the causative agent of recurrent meningitis and infection of a haematoperitoneum (Coenye et al, 2002a;De Baere et al, 2001;Vaneechoutte et al, 2001).…”