Treponema brennaborense sp. nov., a novel spirochaete isolated from a dairy cow suffering from digital dermatitis

A novel Treponema species was isolated from an ulcerative lesion of a cow s uffering from digital dermatitis (DD), a disease which causes painful ulcer ations along the coronary band. Among other anaerobic bacteria, high number s of spirochaetes have been regularly found in DD lesions. Here data are pr esented of a spirochaete isolated from a DD ulcer. By chemotaxonomy, protei n analysis and comparative 16S rDNA sequence analysis this isolate was clas sified as a treponeme that differed from all Treponema species described pr eviously. The only isolate, DD5/3(T), for which the name Treponema brennabo rense is proposed, is designated the type strain of the novel species. The strain is a small, highly motile spirochaete that has two periplasmic flage lla, one flagellum being attached at each cell pole. Strain DD5/3(T) exhibi ts alpha-glucosidase and N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase activity and growth is inhibited by rabbit serum. T, brennaborense was phylogenetically most cl osely related (89.5 % 16S rRNA similarity) to Treponema maltophilum, an ora l spirochaete isolated from a periodontitis patient.