Taxonomic Position of Campylobacter cryaerophila sp. nov.

Abstract

A total of 90 aerotolerant Campylobacter strains, which were isolated mainly from animal abortions, were examined by using a wide range of biochemical and physiological tests. The resulting data, together with data for reference Campylobacter strains that were similarly examined, were compared by using several numerical taxonomic analysis methods. Our analyses demonstrated that there is a strong similarity between the aerotolerant strains and strains of Campylobacter fetus, Campylobacter jejuni, Campylobacter coli, and Campylobacter sputorum. For practical purposes this study revealed four possible taxa; one taxon consisted of C. fetus strains, one taxon consisted of the C. sputorum strains, and a third taxon consisted of the thermophilic strains, having C. coli and C. jejuni strains as separate entities. The fourth group consisted of all of the aerotolerant strains and was considered a new species of Campylobacter. All of the aerotolerant strains exhibited a tolerance to lower temperatures and higher oxygen concentrations than previously observed with strains of Campylobacter; the name Campylobacter cryaerophila sp. nov. is suggested for these strains. In this paper we present identification characteristics of C. cryaerophila strains and a description of the new species.