The gene encoding the putative reductase component (KshB) of 3-ketosteroid 9α-hydroxylase was cloned from Rhodococcus equi USA-18, a cholesterol oxidase-producing strain formerly named Arthrobacter simplex USA-18, by PCR according to consensus amino acid motifs of several bacterial KshB subunits. Deletion of the gene in R. equi USA-18 by a PCR-targeted gene disruption method resulted in a mutan...

Malakoplakia is a disease especially of the urinary tract with typical plaques most frequently observed in the urinary bladder's mucosa. In the context of immunosuppression malakoplakia can also occur in other organs. Some of these extravesical malakoplakias are associated with an infection by Rhodococcus equi, a rare human pathogen well known from veterinary medicine. Here we present the first...

From a mixture of lysergamide and its epimer isolysergamide, Rhodococcus equi A4 containing amidase preferentially hydrolyzed lysergamide into lysergic acid.

The objective of this study was to determine the in vitro antimicrobial activity of gallium maltolate (GaM) against Rhodococcus equi. A total of 98 virulent bacterial isolates from equine clinical cases were examined, of which 19 isolates were known to be resistant to macrolides and rifampin. Isolates were cultured with various concentrations of GaM and minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) va...

Rhodococcus equi is a multi-host pathogen that infects a range of animals as well as immune-compromised humans. Equine and porcine isolates harbour a virulence plasmid encoding a homologous family of virulence-associated proteins associated with the capacity of R. equi to divert the normal processes of endosomal maturation, enabling bacterial survival and proliferation in alveolar macrophages. ...

The prevalence of intermediately virulent Rhodococcus equi isolates from pig submaxillary lymph nodes from four slaughterhouses in Nakhonpathom province, Thailand, was investigated. The isolates were tested for the presence of virulence plasmids and the 20-kDa virulence-associated protein antigen (VapB) gene by PCR. Of the 734 submaxillary lymph nodes tested, 19 (2.6%) produced positive culture...

The bacterial strain RB1 has been isolated by enrichment cultivation with 2,4-dinitrophenol as the sole nitrogen, carbon, and energy source and characterized, on the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence comparison, as a Rhodococcus species closely related to Rhodococcus opacus. Rhodococcus sp. strain RB1 degrades 2,4-dinitrophenol, releasing the two nitro groups from the compound as nitrite. The rel...

Rhodococcus equi has emerged as a serious pathogen in immunocompromised patients, including solid organ transplant recipients. Primary pulmonary involvement is the most common presentation. However, this opportunistic pathogen is often not considered in the differential diagnosis of pneumonia in transplant recipients. Furthermore, in cultures, Rhodococcus can be misinterpreted by microbiologist...

New desulfurizing bacteria able to convert dibenzothiophene into 2-hydroxybiphenyl and sulfate were isolated from contaminated soils collected in Mexican refineries. Random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis showed they were different from previously reported Rhodococcus erythropolis desulfurizing strains. According to 16S rRNA gene sequencing and fatty acid analyses, these new isolates belonge...