Identification of Pandoraea species by 16S ribosomal DNA-based PCR assays

The recently described genus Pandoraea contains five named species (Pandora ea apista, Pandoraea pulmonicola, Pandoraea pnomenusa, Pandoraea sputorum, and Pandoraea norimbergensis) and four unnamed genomospecies. Pandoraea spp . have mainly been recovered from the respiratory tracts of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Accurate genus- and species-level identification by routine clinical microbiology methods is difficult, and differentiation from Burkh olderia cepacia complex organisms may be especially problematic. This can h ave important consequences for the management of CF patients. On the basis of 16S ribosomal DNA sequences, PCR assays for the identification of Pandor aea spp. were developed. A first PCR assay was developed for the identifica tion of Pandoraea isolates to the genus level. PCR assays for the identific ation of P. apista and P. pulmonicola as a group, A pnomenusa, A sputorum, and A norimbergensis were also developed. All five assays were evaluated wi th a panel of 123 bacterial isolates that included 69 Pandoraea sp. strains , 24 B. cepacia complex strains, 6 Burkholderia gladioli strains, 9 Ralston ia sp. strains, 5 Alcaligenes Xylosoxidans strains, 5 Stenotrophomonas malt ophilia strains, and 5 Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains. The use of these PCR assays facilitates the identification of Pandoraea spp. and avoids the mis identification of a Pandoraea sp. as a B. cepacia complex isolate.