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Abstract
pulmonary infection in Korea. (Korean J Clin Microbiol Nocardia cyriacigeorgica is an aerobic gram-positive rod that has mostly been reported as an opportunistic pathogen. Since molecular methodologies were introduced to identify species, infections caused by N. cyriacigeorgica have been reported. The patient was a 51-year-old woman with aplastic anemia, systemic lupus erythematosus, and disseminated tuberculosis, who was admitted to Chosun University Hospital with a history of fever and productive cough. During her hospitalization, sputum cultures were taken and a bacterium suspicious of acitinomycetes grew five times. It was a gram-positive rod that was also partially acid-fast on modified Kinyoun stain and resistant to lysozyme. After 24 h of incubation, cultures of the sputum onto sheep's blood agar plates (BAP) demonstrated rough, chalky, and white colo-nies with a characteristic earthy odor. Based on the above results, the presumptive identification of Nocardia species was made. To identify species of this isolate, 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis was taken and showed 99.9% homology to N. cyriaci-georgica DSM44484T. The results of biochemical tests were compatible with other reports of N. cyriacigeorgica. As a result, this isolate was identified as N. cyriacigeorgica. Herein, we present a first report of N. cyriacigeorgica isolated from a patient with pulmonary infection in Korea.
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Fig. 1.
Macroscopic and microscopic features of strain 3617–1 (this case). (A) Growth of strain 3617–1 at 24 h on sheep's blood agar plates (BAP). (B) Growth of strain 3617–1 at day 3 on sheep's BAP. (C) Gram stain of strain 3617–1 after growth for 24 h (original magnification, ×1,000). (D) Modified Kinyoun stain of strain 3617–1 after growth for 24 h (original magnification, ×1,000).
Table 1.
Characteristics of strain 3617–1 (this case) and Nocardia cy-riacigeorgica reference strain DSM 44484T
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