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Whales in San Francisco Bay

Roughly 30 gray whales have been spotted in the Bay this season, many more than is typical. Sadly, there have also been at least 14 deaths this year, which is more than in all of 2024. 

We are investigating to help determine the cause of these deaths. By gaining insights into what is causing these tragedies, we can better understand how to help prevent them.

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Novel Species of Neisseria Bacteria Isolated from Mouth of California Sea Lions

Neisseria zalophi sp. nov., isolated from oral cavity of California sea lions (Zalophus californianus)
  • Microbiology

Abstract

Three independent strains of Neisseria sp. were isolated from the oral cavity of California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) that were admitted to The Marine Mammal Center facilities in California, USA. The strains were isolated from oral swabs by cultivation on Trypticase Soy agar with 5% sheep blood under aerobic conditions. The 16S rRNA gene sequence of these three strains shared 99% similarity, but demonstrated only 97-98% nucleotide similarity to the phylogenetically closest relatives such as N. canis, N. zoodegmatis, N. animaloris, and N. dumasiana. These three strains also shared 99% sequence similarity of their rplF, rpoB, and gyrB gene sequences. Based on the biochemical tests alone (i.e., without genetic analysis of housekeeping genes), it is difficult to discriminate this novel species from N. canis; however, it can be easily discriminated from all phylogenetically closely related species using the sequencing analysis of its housekeeping genes (e.g., rplF, rpoB, or gyrB genes). Thus, genetic testing is indispensable for accurate identification of this species in a routine laboratory practice. The species is an obligate aerobe and able to grow in Mueller-Hinton broth supplemented with 6% NaCl, but the phylogenetically closely related species (N. canis, N. zoodegmatis, N. animaloris, and N. dumasiana) were not. Based on these phenotypic and genotypic characteristics and phylogenetic data, we conclude that these new strains represent a novel species of the genus Neisseria, for which the name Neisseria zalophi sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CSL 7565T (= ATCC BAA2455T = DSM 102031T).

Volokhov, D.V., Amselle, M., Bodeis-Jones, S., Delmonte, P., Zhang, S., Davidson, M., Gulland, F.M., Chizhikov, V.E. 2018. Neisseria zalophi sp. nov., isolated from oral cavity of California sea lions (Zalophus californianus). Archives of Microbiology. DOI: 10.1007/s00203-018-1499-x

microbiology

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