Abstract
In 1967, Brucella neotomae was first isolated from Neotoma lepida, the dessert wood rat, in Utah. With little infection data since its discovery, the zoonotic potential of this Brucella species is largely unknown. Recent reports of isolation from human cerebrospinal fluid, along with current literature suggest that B. neotomae has the ability to infect various hosts and cell types. In this report we extend the knowledge of B. neotomae ATCC 23459’s intracellular invasion and survival abilities to a variety of cell lines through gentamicin protection assays. Some of the phagocytic and epithelial cell lines from various mammalian species represent characteristics of some cell types that could be encountered by Brucella in potential hosts. It was found that B. neotomae ATCC 23459 exhibits generally lower intracellular bacterial CFUs compared to the mouse-passaged strain of B. neotomae ATCC 23459, B. suis 1330, and B. abortus 2308. Ultimately, these observations provide a small piece of the puzzle in the investigation of the breadth of B. neotomae’s pathogenic potential.
Highlights
The genus Brucella is composed of Gram-negative, non-sporulating, non-motile cocco-bacilli that lack a capsule from the alpha-proteobacteria group
B. neotomae intracellular survival and growth has been characterized in J774A.1 cells and our study extends this knowledge to a variety of cell lines [8,9,11,12,13]
The B. neotomae strains exhibited growth on thionin dye that differed from the literature, it has been shown that Brucella strains can have some variability in regards to biochemical assay results [20,34]
Summary
The genus Brucella is composed of Gram-negative, non-sporulating, non-motile cocco-bacilli that lack a capsule from the alpha-proteobacteria group. This group is composed of a variety of bacterial species that are generally associated, but not obligated to specific hosts. Symptomatic patients exhibit flu-like symptoms for up to four weeks before spontaneous recovery followed by the onset of symptoms again (undulant) [1]. Most infected individuals exhibiting undulant fever recover after 4–12 months, but some develop a chronic infection even after treatment [3].
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