Legionella jordanis

Legionella jordanis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Bacteria
Phylum:	Proteobacteria
Class:	Gammaproteobacteria
Order:	Legionellales
Family:	Legionellaceae
Genus:	Legionella
Species:	L. jordanis
Binomial name
Legionella jordanis Cherry et al. 1982
Type strain
ATCC 33623, BL-540, CCUG 16413, CIP 105268, DSM 19212, Gorman BL-540, NCTC 11533

Legionella jordanis is a Gram-negative bacterium from the genus Legionella which was isolated from the Jordan River in Bloomington, Indiana and from the sewage in DeKalb County, Georgia.L. jordanis is a rare human pathogen and can cause respiratory tract infections.

Legionella jordanis strain BL-540 was first isolated from water samples taken at the Jordan River in Bloomington, Indiana by Cherry et al. in 1978. Another strain characterized as ABB-9 was discovered in 1980 from sewage collected in DeKalb County, Georgia. The specific epithet jordanis was derived from the name of the river in which was discovered. The two strains were both Gram-stained. They Sudan black B fat stain for lipids and the Wirtz-Conklin method were used to demonstrate spore formation. Acid-fast staining was used, as well. The cultures were streaked onto trypticase soy agar (TSA) and charcoal yeast extract (CYE) agar slants, and were left to incubate around 36 °C in candle extinction jars that remove oxygen from the jar by burning a candle with the lid tightly sealed. The cultures failed to grow on the TSA plates, but did show growth on CYE slants which Cherry et al. expected. They were removed at 24- and 48-hour periods and tested for oxidase and catalase production.

The order Legionellales comprises two families, Legionellaceae and Coxiellaceae. The family Legionellaceae includes the genera Legionella and relatives Fluoribacter and Sarcobium. The colonies that appeared around the third day in the CYE slants were grey and raised with a “ground-glass appearance". It was positive for both oxidase and catalase production. Strains of L. jordanis are thin, motile Gram-negative rods that range in size from 0.3 to 0.9 µm wide by 2 to 20 µm long. In addition, it is not encapsulated or nonspore-forming. After being stained with Sudan B, many of the cells did not have fat deposits. Gas-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry show that all known species of Legionella contain large amounts of branched-chain fatty acids. DNA that was unlabeled from BL-540 was tested against labeled DNAs from the six recognized Legionella species. When reactions were performed at an incubation temperature of 60 °C, relatedness of BL-540 to the other DNAs were between 4 and 20%. When reactions were performed at a higher incubation temperature of 75 °C, the relatedness ranged from 0 to 10%. The results indicated that L. jordanis was a new species. The two strains, BL-540 and ABB-9, were almost identical when DNA relatedness reactions were performed at both 60 and 75 °C.

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