Infections WithRoseomonas gilardiiand Review of Characteristics Used for Biochemical Identification and Molecular Typing

Abstract

Roseomonas is a recently described genus of gram-negative coccobacilli formerly designated as "pink-coccoid" groups I through IV by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta, Ga) because of the organism's characteristic pink colonies. Since 1991 we have isolated Roseomonas from eight patients; in seven from blood cultures and in one from a skin lesion. The seven blood isolates were from patients with clinically significant underlying diseases who had central venous catheters in place; the majority were associated with polymicrobial catheter infections. Additional characteristics of their infections are described. The eight isolates had originally been identified by us as CentersRoseomonas is a recently described genus of gram-negative coccobacilli 1 that had previously been designated as "pink-coccoid" groups I through IV 2 by the Special Bacteriology Reference Laboratory of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, Atlanta, Ga). On the basis of biochemical reactions and DNA relatedness of 42 pink coccoid isolates, Rihs et al 1 proposed that the genus Roseomonas should contain six new species: Roseomonas gilardii, Roseomonas cervicalis, Roseomonas fauriae, and unnamed genomospecies 4, 5, and 6. The strains they examined included 6 strains each of CDC-designated pink-coccoid groups I, II, III, and IV, along with a variety of other isolates. In this collection of 42 strains R gilardii turned out to be the most common isolate (23 of the 42). for Disease Control (CDC) pink-coccoid group III. These organisms were re-identified using the criteria of Rihs et al, and all isolates fit most closely with Roseomonas gilardii. Antibiotic profiles were fairly homogeneous showing susceptibility to many antibiotics, but uniform resistance to cefoxitin, ceftazidime, and piperacillin. Attempts to determine whether the isolates were the same strain by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis suggested that 3 of the isolates were similar. Random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis, however, demonstrated that each of the eight isolates was a unique strain.

Roseomonas Spinal Epidural Abscess Complicating Instrumented Posterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion

“…R. mucosa was initially grouped with R. gilardii, but due to sufficient phylogenetic and phenotypic differences, it was reestablished as a distinct species in 2003 (5). Members of the genus are widely distributed in the environment in the air, water, and soil, but the natural reservoir of the microorganism is currently unknown (6). Roseomonas species generally have low virulence, although some species have been reported to cause serious infections in immunocompromised patients (7).…”

“…Roseomonas is widely resistant to penicillins, such as ampicillin, ticarcillin, and piperacillin, and the addition of beta-lactamase inhibitors does not restore susceptibility (4)(5)(6). It is also resistant to cephalosporins, including broad-spectrum cephalosporins.…”

“…It is also resistant to cephalosporins, including broad-spectrum cephalosporins. However, Lewis et al presented a series of in vitro tests of its susceptibility to cefotaxime and, in some cases, clinical responses to this agent (6). Richardson (15) and Singal et al (16) reported isolates susceptible to narrow-and expanded-spectrum cephalosporins.…”

Peritonitis and Technique Failure Caused by Roseomonas mucosa in an Adolescent Infected with HIV on Continuous Cycling Peritoneal Dialysis

“…However, R. mucosa, in addition to being the most commonly reported species of the genus Roseomonas, is also estimated to have the greatest antibiotic resistance (10), with significant resistance to ␤-lactams. Roseomonas species are generally susceptible to aminoglycosides, fluoroquinolones, and carbapenems (1,9,10,12,14). A previous case series reported that 100% of R. mucosa isolates were resistant to ceftazidime but susceptible to amikacin and ciprofloxacin by the Etest, consistent with our results (10).…”

Roseomonas stagni sp. nov., isolated from pond water in Japan

“…Roseomonas species have been isolated from clinical specimens (Han et al, 2003;Lewis et al, 1997;Sandoe et al, 1997;Subudhi et al, 2001;Vasallo et al, 1998) and some species are considered to cause opportunistic infections in humans. Recently, Roseomonas species have also been isolated frequently from various natural environments, including aqueous environments (Gallego et al, 2006), indicating that members of the genus Roseomonas are widely distributed in nature (Jiang et al, 2006).…”