Isolation of saprophytic Leptospira sp. from a selected environmental water source of Argentina

EXEQUIEL SCIALFA; SYLVIA GRUNE LOFFLER; BIBIANA BRIHUEGA; AGUIRRE P; M. RIVERO

REVISTA ARGENTINA DE MICROBIOLOGíA

ASOCIACION ARGENTINA MICROBIOLOGIA

Lugar: Buenos Aires; Año: 2017 vol. 50 p. 323 - 326

0325-7541

Ten Leptospira strains were isolated from water samples of Nievas stream, Olavarría, Buenos Aires province (Argentina). The isolates showed motility and morphology typical of the genus Leptospira under dark field microscopy. All (ten strains) developed in Ellinghausen?McCullough?Johnson?Harris liquid medium at 13º C and 30º C in eight days. All isolates were negative by Multiple-Locus Variable-number tandem repeats Analysis (MLVA). Molecular identification by 16S rRNA gene sequences verified that all isolates were identified as nonpathogenic leptospires. Four isolates were identified as Leptospira patoc and six isolates as Leptospira sp. nov., with sequence similarities within the range 97-100%, and closely related to L. meyeri and L. yanagawae. Strain ScialfaASA42 represents a novel specie of the genus Leptospira, for which the name Leptospira nievas sp. nov. is proposed. The sequence obtained is available in the GenBank under Accession number KP901270.