Variovorax durovernum nov. sp., a novel species isolated from an infected prosthetic aortic graft in a human

Abstract Variovorax durovernum nov. sp.was isolated from an infected, prosthetic endovascular graft explanted from a shepherd. Variovorax durovernum nov.sp. was isolated from blood agar, chocolate and MacConkey agar incubated at 37°C in an aerobic environment after 48h of incubation. Variovorax durovernum nov sp. is an aerobic, Gram-negative, motile, curved rod. Whole genome sequence (WGS) and targeted 16S sequencing was performed to retrieve nucleotide sequences representing the 16S rRNA gene of the isolate. The 16S gene were compared with all available Variovorax species.The 16S rRNA gene of Variovorax isolates differed by a minimum of 6 SNPs (99.6% identity) for V. paradoxus and 7 SNPs for V. boronicumulans (99.5%). The phylogeny of 16S gene placed Variovorax durovernum nov.sp. in a monophyletic cluster with closest relative being V. boronicumulans. The fatty acid profile consisted of 10:0 3OH (9.90%), Sum In Feature 3 (16:1 ω7c/16:1 ω6c - 16.36%), 16:0 (24.23%), 17:0 cyclo (13,35%), and Sum in Feature 8 (18:1 ω7c, 18:1 ω6c).In silico DNA-DNA hybridisation between the isolate and other Variovorax species was estimated at 32.1% for V. boronicumulans and 31.9% for V. paradoxus. Based on these results, Variovorax durovernum nov. sp. was designated as a novel species within the Variovorax genus, identified as the first case of human pathology caused by any Variovorax sp.