INFECTIONS WITH ROSEOMONAS-GILARDII AND REVIEW OF CHARACTERISTICS USED FOR BIOCHEMICAL-IDENTIFICATION AND MOLECULAR TYPING

Roseomonas is a recently described genus of gram-negative coccobacilli formerly designated as ''pink-coccoid'' groups I through IV by the Ce nters for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta, Ga) because of the organism's characteristic pink colonies. Since 1991 we have isolated R oseomonas from eight patients; in seven from blood cultures and in one from a skin lesion. The seven blood isolates were from patients with clinically significant underlying diseases who had central venous cath eters in place; the majority were associated with polymicrobial cathet er infections. Additional characteristics of their infections are desc ribed. The eight isolates had originally been identified by us as Cent ers for Disease Control(CDC) pink-coccoid group III. These organisms w ere re-identified using the criteria of Ribs et al, and all isolates f it most closely with Roseomonns gilardii. Antibiotic profiles were fai rly homogeneous showing susceptibility to many antibiotics, but unifor m resistance to cefoxitin, ceftazidime, and piperacillin. Attempts to determine whether the isolates were the same strain by pulsed-field ge l electrophoresis suggested that 3 of the isolates were similar. Rando m amplified polymorphic DNA analysis, however, demonstrated that each of the eight isolates was a unique strain.