Novel Bacterium Isolated from a Lung Transplant Patient with Cystic Fibrosis

The major clinical problem for patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) is progressive loss of pulmonary function, usually due to chronic bacterial infections. A patient with CF and a lung transplant was severely infected with a previously unidentified gram-negative bacterium. We isolated this organism (strain DS15158) from the patient and characterized it by phylogenetic analysis of the small-subunit rRNA and biochemically by the BIOLOG GN MicroPlate assay, fatty acid analysis, and various standard laboratory tests. No close match to any other organism could be found. Isolate DS15158 represents a new genus-level divergence within the bacterial subdivision α-Proteobacteria on the basis of the 16S rRNA gene analysis.