Abstract
Summary Rhodococcus equi is the only recognized animal pathogenic species within an extended genus of metabolically versatile Actinobacteria of considerable biotechnological interest. Best known as a horse pathogen, R. equi is commonly isolated from other animal species, particularly pigs and ruminants, and causes severe opportunistic infections in people. As typical in the rhodococci, R. equi niche specialization is extrachromosomally determined, via a conjugative virulence plasmid that promotes intramacrophage survival. Progress in the molecular understanding of R. equi and its recent rise as a novel paradigm of multihost adaptation has been accompanied by an unusual nomenclatural instability, with a confusing succession of names: "Prescottia equi", "Prescotella equi", Corynebacterium hoagii and Rhodococcus hoagii. This article reviews current advances in the genomics, biology and virulence of this pathogenic actinobacterium with a unique mechanism of plasmid‐transferable animal host tropism. It also discusses the taxonomic and nomenclatural issues around R. equi in the light of recent phylogenomic evidence that confirms its membership as a bona fide Rhodococcus.
Highlights
Rhodococcus equi is a high-G+C Gram-positive, facultative intracellular coccobacillus that parasitizes macrophages, causing pulmonary and extrapulmonary pyogranulomatous infections in different animal species and people (Prescott, 1991; von Bargen and Haas, 2009; Vazquez-Boland et al, 2013)
As a side effect of the nomenclatural debate originally triggered by the proposed reclassification of R. equi into a new genus “Prescottia” which turned out to be illegitimate, a significant potential new difficulty arose with the realization that Rhodococcus
The bacterial genus Rhodococcus Zopf 1891 has a comparable standing in the scientific literature and a potential change may have disastrous consequences
Summary
Citation for published version: Vazquez-Boland, J & Meijer, WG 2019, 'The pathogenic actinobacterium Rhodococcus equi: What’s in a name', Molecular Microbiology. Link: Link to publication record in Edinburgh Research Explorer Document Version: Peer reviewed version
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