Proposal for a New Family, Campylobacteraceae

Abstract

The genera Campylobacter, Arcobacter, Helicobacter, Wolinella, and "Flexispira" constitute, within the class Proteobacteria, a separate eubacterial lineage identified as rRNA superfamily VI. A considerable number of common genotypic and phenotypic features differentiate the genera Campylobacter and Arcobacter from the other members of this group. Therefore, we propose that the genera Campylobacter and Arcobacter should be included in a separate family, for which the name Campylobacteraceae is proposed.The bacteria now known as campylobacters were first isolated at the beginning of this century (20), when they were named Vibrio fetus (37). In the subsequent decades, similar organisms were found and included in the genus Vibrio as Vibrio jejuni (36), Vibrio coli (6), Vibrio sputorum (26) In Bergey 's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology, 8th ed., the genera Spirillum and Campylobacter constitute the family Spirillaceae (33). The grouping of these taxa in one family was based mainly on a number of morphological features. In 1984, when Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology was published, the phylogenetic relationships of these organisms were still largely unknown. Therefore, it was decided to discontinue the use of the family name Spirillaceae (13). The genus Campylobacter and some other genera, such as Spirillum, Aquaspirillum , Oceanospirillum , and Azospirillum, were considered to belong to a loose assemblage of taxa that have some morphological or physiological similarities which are useful for identification (13). In Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, the genus Campylobacter consists of the following five species (35): C. fetus, C . jejuni, C. coli, C. sputorum, and Campylobacter concisus. C. concisus was described in 1981 by Tanner et al. (41). Furthermore, Smibert listed a third subspecies of C. sputorum, C. sputorum subsp. mucosalis (16), which had been described and named by Roop et al. (29,30) as a separate species. These authors also showed that V . fecalis (7) is related to C. sputorum at the species level and proposed that C. sputorum subsp. sputorum, C. sputorum subsp. bubulus, and V. fecalis (7) should be considered biovars of C . sputorum (C. sputorum biovar sputorum, C. sputorum biovar bubulus, and C. sputorum biovar fecalis, respectively fetus, C. hyointestinalis, C. concisus, C. mucosalis, C. sputorum, C. coli, C. jejuni, C. lari, and "C. upsaliensis." C. cinaedi, C. fennelliae, C . pylori, and W . succinogenes constitute a second rRNA homology group, and C. cryaerophila and C. nitrofigilis form a third rRNA homology group. Goodwin et al. (11) transferred one of these species, C. pylori, to the new genus Helicobacter; although no suprageneric studies were performed, a second species, C. mustelae, was also included in the same genus.All known campylobacters, wolinellas, and Campylobacter-like organisms were included in an extensive DNArRNA hybridization study by Vandamme et al. (45). These authors found that all campylobacters and their relatives (including the genera Wolinella a...

Phylogenetic and molecular characterization of a 23S rRNA gene positions the genus Campylobacter in the epsilon subdivision of the Proteobacteria and shows that the presence of transcribed spacers is common in Campylobacter spp

“…Further, the three Campylobacter groups had a 49.3% overall 16S rRNA sequence similarity to representatives of the alpha, beta, and gamma phylogenetic branches of the class Proteobacteria, a depth of divergence greater than that among the three branches themselves and consistent with the conclusions reached by Romaniuk et al (50). Stackebrandt et al (54) took the position that overall there was a meaningful affinity between the campylobacters and members of the class Proteobacteria, and Vandamme et al (61,62) concluded that while the campylobacters clearly constitute a sixth rRNA superfamily within the gram-negative bacteria and are equally removed from all subclasses within the class Proteobacteria, it seems appropriate to consider rRNA superfamily Vl a fifth subclass of the class Proteobacteria, as deduced from a suggestion of Murray et al (33).…”

Hemolymph microbiome of Pacific oysters in response to temperature, temperature stress and infection

“…Arcobacter spp. are often microaerophilic (Vandamme and Deley, 1991) and growth in the oysters could be facilitated by periodical valve closing (Sow et al, 2011) or high variation in respiratory time activity (Bougrier et al, 1998)-both of which may promote microaerophilic conditions. Dominance of Arcobacter spp.…”

NOTES: New Perspectives in the Classification of the Flavobacteria: Description of Chryseobacterium gen. nov., Bergeyella gen. nov., and Empedobacter nom. rev.

“…Within well-characterized genera, differences in melting temperatures [T,(,)] for the most part range from 4 to 7°C (7), whereas differences in T+) values of up to 12°C are found within bacterial families (32). This implies that, except for F. odoratum, all members of the four natural groups sensu Holmes (13) should be excluded from the genus Flavobacterium on genotypic grounds, as the name Flavobacterium must be retained for the type species.…”