A Novel Pathogenic Species of Genus : Sp. Nov

Introduction: is a prominent genus owing to its dual nature. Species of this genus have many applications in industry and agriculture as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria and microbial biological control agents, whereas species such as are considered one of the leading gram-negative multi-drug-resistant bacterial pathogens because of their high contribution to the increase in crude mortality and significant clinical challenge. Pathogenic species and most clinical isolates belong to the complex (SMc). However, a strain highly homologous to was isolated from a patient with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), which aroused our interest, as belongs to a relatively distant clade from SMc and there have been no human association reports.

Methods: The pathogenicity, immunological and biochemical characteristics of 610A2 were systematically evaluated.

Results: 610A2 is a new species of genus , which is named as sp. nov. for its obvious brown water-soluble pigment. 610A2 is pathogenic and caused significant weight loss, pulmonary congestion, and blood transmission in mice because it has multiple virulence factors, haemolysis, and strong biofilm formation abilities. In addition, the cytokine response induced by this strain was similar to that observed in patients with TB, and the strain was resistant to half of the anti-TB drugs.

Conclusions: The pathogenicity of 610A2 may not be weaker than that of . Its isolation extended the opportunistic pathogenic species to all 3 major clades of the genus , indicating that the clinical importance of species of other than and potential risks to biological safety associated with the use of require more attention.