Eperythrozoon

''Eperythrozoon'' is a genus of bacteria in the family Mycoplasmoidaceae. Members of this family live inside red blood cells and are largely unculturable. As a result, many species are ''Candidatus''. Under the old understanding of this genus as a phylogenetically divergent group under ''Mycoplasma'', the included bacteria are also known as hemoplasmas or hemotrophic mycoplasmas.

Taxonomy

The members of this genus have variously been named under ''Eperythrozoon'', ''Haemobartonella'' (before that, ''Bartonella''), and ''Mycoplasma''. When they were under ''Mycoplasma'', most species had a specific epithet starting with ''hemo'' or ''haemo'' (meaning "blood"), giving them the informal name "hemoplasmas" or "hemotrophic mycoplasmas". The merge into ''Mycoplasma'' is now known to be misguided and resulted in a polyphyletic ''Mycoplasma''. The current circumscription of the genus is by Gupta et al. (2018).

According to LPSN, several renames in Gupta et al. (2018) have not yet been made valid or pro-valid. This article nevertheless uses these names because they imply a monophyletic ''Mycoplasma''. For more background on resistance to renaming medically-important bacteria, see .

Species include:
* "'' E. canis''"
* '' E. coccoides'' – type species
* "''Candidatus'' E. haematobovis"
* "''Candidatus'' E. haematolamae"
* "''Candidatus'' E. haematominutum"
* "''Candidatus'' E. haemobos"
* "''Candidatus'' E. haemolamae"
* "''Candidatus'' E. haemominutum"
* "'' E. muris''"
* '' E. ovis''
* '' E. parvum'' S
* '' E. suis''
* '' E. wenyonii''

Additional possible members can be found in .

Clinical relevance

''Eperythrozoon'' infection can cause fever, hemolytic anemia, and jaundice in infected animals (domestic, wild, and humans).

Domestic animals

''Eperythrozoon'' is a major pathogen of domestic animals. The specific epithets in this genus are, in fact, mostly named after the animal the species is discovered in. Diagnosis is by blood smear microscopy or the more sensitive PCR. Treatment is by tetracyclines, similar to other Mollicutes.

Humans

'' Eperythrozoon ovis'' and '' Eperythrozoon parvum'' have been implicated in human infections. It is believed to spread by contact with animals or arthropods, but cases have been reported without extensive contact. Diagnosis is by blood smear microscopy or PCR. Definite identification of the species responsible can be achieved through gene sequencing.

"''Ca.'' Mycoplasma haemohominis", as the name suggests, is originally found in a human. A case report describes identification of the bacterium and its quinolone antibiotic resistance mutation through genome sequencing. The patient was treated successfully with moxifloxacin and minocycline combination.

Phylogeny

For now, consult Gupta et al. (2018). Trees extracted from the 'The All-Species Living Tree' Project (16S ribosomal RNA) and GTDB (120 marker genes) will be included in the article at a later date.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1346742

Mollicutes
Bacteria genera