''Brevinema andersonii'' (Brev. i. ne' ma. L. adj. brevis, short; Gr. n. nema, thread; N.L. neut. n. Brevinema, a short thread.) (an.derso'ni.i. N.L. gen. n. andersonii, of Anderson), named for John F. Anderson, who first described the organism. This organism is a

Gram-negative Gram-negative bacteria are bacteria that, unlike gram-positive bacteria, do not retain the crystal violet stain used in the Gram staining method of bacterial differentiation. Their defining characteristic is that their cell envelope consists ...

microaerophilic A microaerophile is a microorganism that requires environments containing lower levels of dioxygen than that are present in the atmosphere (i.e. < 21% O₂; typically 2–10% O₂) for optimal growth. A more r ...

, helical shaped,

chemoorganotrophic Primary nutritional groups are groups of organisms, divided in relation to the nutrition mode according to the sources of energy and carbon, needed for living, growth and reproduction. The sources of energy can be light or chemical compounds; the ...

organism from the genus '' Brevinema''. ''Brevinema andersonii'' is host associated, strains have been isolated from blood and other tissues of short-tailed shrews (''

Blarina brevicauda The northern short-tailed shrew (''Blarina brevicauda'') is the largest shrew in the genus ''Blarina'', and occurs in the northeastern region of North America. It is a semifossorial, highly active, and voracious insectivore and is present in a ...

'') and white-footed mice (''Peromyscus Zeucopus'') and are infectious for laboratory mice and Syrian hamsters.''B. andersonii'' is readily identified by restriction enzyme analysis, and

SDS-PAGE SDS-PAGE (sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) is a Discontinuous electrophoresis, discontinuous electrophoretic system developed by Ulrich K. Laemmli which is commonly used as a method to separate proteins with molecular m ...

, or fatty acid composition data. Another identifier for ''B. andersonii'' is the sheathed periplasmic

flagella A flagellum (; : flagella) (Latin for 'whip' or 'scourge') is a hair-like appendage that protrudes from certain plant and animal sperm cells, from fungal spores ( zoospores), and from a wide range of microorganisms to provide motility. Many pr ...

in the 1-2-1 configuration. While cells are visible by dark-field or

phase-contrast microscopy __NOTOC__ Phase-contrast microscopy (PCM) is an optical microscopy technique that converts phase shifts in light passing through a transparent specimen to brightness changes in the image. Phase shifts themselves are invisible, but become visibl ...

, they cannot be seen when

bright-field microscopy Bright-field microscopy (BF) is the simplest of all the optical microscopy illumination techniques. Sample illumination is transmitted (i.e., illuminated from below and observed from above) white light, and contrast in the sample is caused by ...

is used.

History

''Brevinema andersonii'' was first identified in 1987 by Anderson F. John, Russell C. Johnson, Louis A.Magnarell, Fred W. Hyde, and Theodore G Andreadis in blood and tissues from ''Blarina brevicauda'' (short-tailed shrew) and ''Peromyscus leucopus'' (white-footed mouse). Initially thought to be associated with ''Borrelia burgdorferi'' this organism was finally brought to light with more advanced growth mediums. Upon

electron microscopy An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of electrons as a source of illumination. It uses electron optics that are analogous to the glass lenses of an optical light microscope to control the electron beam, for instance focusing i ...

of cultures from this medium, a distinct

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

stood out from the rest. It was not until 1995 that a push for this organism to be found as a new species. This push came as an article from the Journal of Systematic Bacteriology that exclaimed data supports this organism to be its own genus species was broadcast. Written by D.L. Defosse, R. C. Johnson, B. J. Paster, F. E. Dewhirst, they found genomic evidence to support their claim that ''Brevienma andersonii'' was its own deep rooted

spirochete A spirochaete () or spirochete is a member of the phylum Spirochaetota (also called Spirochaetes ), which contains distinctive diderm (double-membrane) Gram-negative bacteria, most of which have long, helically coiled (corkscrew-shaped or ...

. Their findings showed that this organism was around 75% similar in genome to other known

spirochetes A spirochaete () or spirochete is a member of the phylum Spirochaetota (also called Spirochaetes ), which contains distinctive diderm (double-membrane) Gram-negative bacteria, most of which have long, helically coiled (corkscrew-shaped or ...

, this showed that ''B. andersonii'' was in a

taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

of its own.

Biology and Biochemistry

Type and morphology

''Brevinema andersonii'' stains as G- due to the peptidoglycan in the triple-layered outer membrane. Its metabolism is

. The organism exists in

environments. ''B. andersonii'' is a

motile Motility is the ability of an organism to move independently using metabolic energy. This biological concept encompasses movement at various levels, from whole organisms to cells and subcellular components. Motility is observed in animals, mi ...

and flexible helical shaped spiral

bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...

that possess a triple-layered outer envelope. Between the outer membrane and the peptidoglycan layer there is a single sheathed

in the 1-2-1 configuration, as well as a protoplasmic cylinder. The cells are usually 0.2–0.3μm in diameter and 4-5μm in length. 1–2 waves occur along the cell with wavelengths of 2-3μm. The typical final density of the cells are around 4x10⁻⁷ cells per milliliter.

Biochemistry

''Brevinema andersonii'' can be readily identified by enzyme analysis and

, or fatty acid composition data. An enzyme analysis of ''B. andersonii'' showed activity with

butyrate The conjugate acids are in :Carboxylic acids. {{Commons category, Carboxylate ions, Carboxylate anions Carbon compounds Anions ...

valerate Valeric acid or pentanoic acid is a straight-chain alkyl carboxylic acid with the chemical formula . Like other low-molecular-weight carboxylic acids, it has an unpleasant odor. It is found in the perennial flowering plant '' Valeriana officin ...

caproate Caproic acid, also known as hexanoic acid, is the carboxylic acid derived from hexane with the chemical formula . It is a colorless oily liquid with a fatty, cheesy, waxy odor resembling that of goats or other barnyard animals. It is a fatty acid ...

, caprylate,

nonanoate Pelargonic acid, also called nonanoic acid, is an organic compound with structural formula . It is a nine-carbon fatty acid. Nonanoic acid is a colorless oily liquid with an unpleasant, rancid odor. It is nearly insoluble in water, but very solu ...

, caprate, esterase lipase,

alkaline phosphatase The enzyme alkaline phosphatase (ALP, alkaline phenyl phosphatase, also abbreviated PhoA) is a phosphatase with the physiological role of dephosphorylating compounds. The enzyme is found across a multitude of organisms, prokaryotes and eukaryo ...

acid phosphatase Acid phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.2, systematic name ''phosphate-monoester phosphohydrolase (acid optimum)'') is an enzyme that frees attached phosphoryl groups from other molecules during digestion. It can be further classified as a phosphoric monoeste ...

, and β-glucuronidase. The fatty acid composition mainly consists of

myristic acid Myristic acid (IUPAC name: tetradecanoic acid) is a common saturated fatty acid with the molecular formula . Its salts and esters are commonly referred to as myristates or tetradecanoates. The name of the acyl group derived from myristic acid is m ...

(14:0),

palmitic acid Palmitic acid (hexadecanoic acid in IUPAC nomenclature) is a fatty acid with a 16-carbon chain. It is the most common saturated fatty acid found in animals, plants and microorganisms.Gunstone, F. D., John L. Harwood, and Albert J. Dijkstra. The ...

(16:0), and

oleic acid Oleic acid is a fatty acid that occurs naturally in various animal and vegetable fats and oils. It is an odorless, colorless oil, although commercial samples may be yellowish due to the presence of impurities. In chemical terms, oleic acid is cl ...

(18:l), and smaller amounts of stearic acid (18:1) and linoleic acid (18:2). There were low levels, less than 1%, of other fatty acids detected. ''B. andersonii'' was found to be

catalase Catalase is a common enzyme found in nearly all living organisms exposed to oxygen (such as bacteria, plants, and animals) which catalyzes the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen. It is a very important enzyme in protecting ...

negative.

Growth

''Brevenima andersonii'' was found to be grown successfully on a modified BSK medium, referred to as shrew-mouse spirochete medium. The optimum temperature range that ''B. andersonii'' grows at is between 30 °C to 34 °C, but ''B. andersonii'' cannot grow below 25 °C. The ideal pH for ''B. andersonii'' is neutral with an optimum pH of 7.4. It takes 11 to 14 hours per generation time at optimum conditions.

Genome

The type strain of ''Brevinema andersonii'' was designated as ATCC 43811. The G+C content of this organism was fount t be 34 mol%. Unique single-base nucleotide signatures at positions 52•359 (G•C) and 783•799 (U•A) differentiate ''B. andersonii'' from other major

groups. There is also a distinguishing

16S rRNA 16S ribosomal RNA (or 16Svedberg, S rRNA) is the RNA component of the 30S subunit of a prokaryotic ribosome (SSU rRNA). It binds to the Shine-Dalgarno sequence and provides most of the SSU structure. The genes coding for it are referred to as ...

sequence that corresponds to position 724 to 750 in ''

E. coli ''Escherichia coli'' ( )Wells, J. C. (2000) Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Harlow ngland Pearson Education Ltd. is a gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacterium of the genus ''Escherichia'' that is commonly foun ...

'' (5'-GGCAGCUACCUAUGCUAAGAUUGACGC-3'). The

genome is extracted was a partial genome with 1490 bp, the

partial genome reads as:

References

External links

* https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/GU993264 (NCBI data) * {{Taxonbar, from1=Q22286925, from2=Q23840096 Spirochaetes Bacteria described in 1995