Numerical Taxonomy of Staphylococci Isolated from the Marine Environment
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c INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SYSTEMATICBACTERIOLOGY, OCt. 1983, p. 751-759 Vol. 33, No. 4 0020-7713/83/040751-09$02.00/0 Copyright 0 1983, International Union of Microbiological Societies Numerical Taxonomy of Staphylococci Isolated from the Marine Environment B. A. GUNNt AND R. R. COLWELL* Department of Microbiology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742 A total of 220 strains of staphylococci isolated from marine and estuarine surface water samples were examined for 62 morphological, physiological, and biochemical characteristics. The taxonomic data were analyzed by numerical taxonomy; 86% of the cultures were classified as Staphylococcus epidermidis or Staphylococcus hominis, 5% were classified as Staphylococcus aureus, and 9% were classified as Micrococcus spp. An association was observed between species of Staphylococcus isolated from surface water samples and geographic source. S. epidermidis, the most common of the coagulase-negative staphylococci encountered in clinical laboratories, was the dominant species in samples of polluted water, whereas S. hominis, a less common species in clinical specimens, was dominant in water samples collected from unpolluted regions. The phenetic characteristics of the environmental staphylococcal isolates are presented. The first major study (1) of the taxonomy of identified were associated primarily with sedi- marine cocci was reported before publication of ment, not with water. However, from results of the first well-organized approach to the identifi- studies of beaches at Biscayne Bay, Fla., Buck cation of these organisms (2). Consequently, (5) concluded that staphylococci were dominant species status was not assigned to the marine in beach water, sediment, and sand compared cocci because classification of these bacteria with fecal coliform-organisms and fecal strepto- was in such confusion. In that study, Anderson cocci. A more recent study of high-salinity water (1) isolated 205 catalase-positive, gram-positive of the East China Sea (35) and the Nansei area of cocci from three water samples collected from the Pacific Ocean yielded samples containing up the North Sea. A total of 90% of the 205 strains to 17% gram-positive cocci. were fermentative, and 10% were either oxida- Thus, catalase-positive, gram-positive cocci tive or asaccharolytic, when they were exam- indeed occur naturally in the marine environ- ined by using a modified glucose oxidation- ment, with the dominant genus of gram-positive fermentation medium. According to present cocci being Staphylococcus. In the study report- classification schemes (3, 20, 23, 24, 26, 32,40), ed here, we characterized catalase-positive, the fermentative cocci should now be assigned gram-positive cocci isolated from seawater as to the genus Staphylococcus, and the oxidative part of a larger study of the bacterial communi- and asaccharolytic strains should be assigned ties of the surface waters of a deep sea site. either to the genus Micrococcus or to Planococ- cus. It is possible that the asaccharolytic cocci MATERIALS AND METHODS examined were staphylococci which either did Sampling. The following four locations were sam- not grow well in oxidation-fermentation medium pled during this study: (i) Narragansett Bay, R.1.; (ii) or did not produce enough acid from glucose to Chesapeake Bay; (iii) Atlantic Ocean coastal and open alter the pH indicator in the medium (15, 20, 24, ocean waters east of Cape Henry, Va.; and (iv) a 32). From this interpretation of the data, it may pharmaceutical waste dump site located in the Puerto be concluded that staphylococci are present in Rico Trench area of the Atlantic Ocean, approximate- marine waters at a greater frequency than has ly 64 km north of Arecibo, Puerto Rico. The exact been believed previously. sampling locations, data, and methods have been McCallum (28) examined the bacterial flora of reported elsewhere (14, 36). Cultures. In addition to 220 fresh isolates from samples collected from the Bahama Bank and seawater samples collected at the sampling stations found very small numbers of staphylococci and listed above, 19 clinical isolates, 24 reference strains of micrococci. Those cocci that were isolated and Staphylococcus, and 2 reference cultures of Micrococ- cus were included in the study, The reference cultures t Present address: Microbiology Section, Department of and their sources are listed in Table 1. Pathology and Area Laboratory Services, Walter Reed Army Characterization of cultures for taxonomic analyses. Medical Center, Washington, D.C. 20012. Cultures from seawater were isolated by using an 753 752 GUNN AND COLWELL INT. J. SYST.BACTERIOL. TABLE 1. List of reference strains of Staphylococcus and Micrococcus Species Phenon Strain( s)~ S. sciuri subsp. sciuri El ATCC 29062T, ATCC 29059 S. sciuri subsp. lentus El ATCC 29070T, K6 S. hominis E7 ATCC 27846, ATCC 27844T S. haemolyticus E7 DSM 20263T (= ATCC 29970T) S. haemolyticus Ellb DSM 20265 (= ATCC 29968) S. warneri E9 ATCC 27836T, ATCC 27839 S. epidermidis ElOc ATCC 14990T, RM351 S. capitis Ellb ATCC 27841, ATCC 27840T S. aureus El2b JL68, ATCC 12600T S. simulans El2c ATCC 27851, ATCC 27848T S. cohnii El3 DSM 20260T (= ATCC 29974T), DSM 20261 s. xylosus El3 DSM 20266T (= ATCC 29971T), DSM 20267 S . saprop hyt icus El3 AW163, CCM 883T (= ATCC 15305T) a The strains of staphylococci were obtained from W. E. Kloos, North Carolina State University, Raleigh. The strains of micrococci were obtained from J. F. Keiser, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C. incubation temperature of 25°C. However, the strains The 265 cultures examined comprised two grew well at 35°C and were subsequently tested bio- major clusters of gram-positive, catalase-posi- chemically at this temperature by using methods de- tive cocci at a level of similarity (S value) of scribed elsewhere (13, 15, 21, 24; Gunn, Ph.D. thesis, 240% (Fig. 1).Group IE included 246 strains of University of Maryland, College Park, 1981). Each strain was examined for a total of 62 unit characters. Staphylococcus; the second group, group IIE, The salient, differentiating characters are shown in included 19 strains of Micrococcus. Group IE Tables 2 through 5. was subdivided into Staphylococcus sciuri Coding of data. Characters were coded 1 if present (group IEa) and other Staphylococcus spp. or positive, 0 if absent or negative, and 9 if not (group IEb) at an S value of 145%. applicable or not comparable. The final n x t matrix Characterization and identification of phena. contained 265 strains and 62 characters. Phenon El, with an intragroup S value of 66%, Computer analysis. The data were analyzed by using comprised four reference cultures of S. sciuri. the Jaccard coefficient (38), which excludes negative This phenon was unique because it included matches. Clustering was done by the unweighted average linkage method (39). The programs used, strains of oxidase-positive staphylococci that Taxan6 and IGPS3, were stored on a UNIVAC 1108 produced acid from amygdalin, cellobiose, sali- computer and are available on line at the University of cin, and esculin. Maryland Computer Science Center, College Park. The next nine phena (phena E2 through E10) were related at an value of 166%. Phena E2 through E6 demonstratedS an intragroup S value RESULTS of 67% and comprised isolates that were identi- Results obtained by using the Jaccard coeffi- fied as S. hominis according to the description of cient revealed that 86% of the environmental the species reported elsewhere (20, 32,41). Two gram-positive , coccus isolates were either of the strains, one in phenon E2e and the other Staphylococcus epidermidis or Staphylococcus in phenon E6b, were coagulase positive, but hominis, 5% were Staphylococcus aureus, and otherwise the strains could be classified as S. less than 1% were Staphylococcus cohnii; 9% of hominis. None of the reference strains clustered the environmental isolates were Micrococcus with these phena, whereas phenon E7, which spp. Gram-negative, aerobic, heterotrophic bac- had an intragroup S value of 175010, included teria outnumbered the gram-positive cocci by reference cultures of S. hominis and Staphylo- 1O:l in open ocean waters and by approximately coccus haemolyticus. Phenon E8 had an intra- 2,OOO:l in Chesapeake Bay top water samples. group S value of 71% and comprised cultures The criteria used to distinguish Micrococcus that were identified as S. hominis; most of these from Staphylococcus spp. included lysostaphin organisms were isolated from water samples susceptibility, anaerobic fermentation of glucose collected at the pharmaceutical dump site locat- in oxidation-fermentation medium, facultative ed north of Puerto Rico. Group E9 had an growth in semisolid thioglycolate agar, and acid intragroup S value of 95% and included the two production from glycerol (15,32,33). The micro- reference strains of Staphylococcus warneri (Ta- cocci were included in this study to demonstrate ble 1 and Fig. 1). the robustness of the test data set to distinguish Phenon El0 was identified as S. epidermidis between the two genera. based on the description of Schleifer and Kloos VOL. 33, 1983 STAPHYLOCOCCI FROM MARINE ENVIRONMENTS 753 TABLE 2. Characteristics of phenaa Frequency in: Phenon Test Phenon E2 Phenon Phenon Phenon Phenon Phenon El through E7 E8 E9 El0 El 1 (n = 4)b E6 (n = 5) (n = 46)d (n = 2) (n = 51)' (n = 134 (n = 84)' Gram-stain: packets or clumps 75g 1 100 98 100 31 100 Enzymes Nitrate reduction 100 77 100 75 0 63 85 Arginine dihydrolase 0 28 40 7 100 81 77 Lysozyme