Resumen

SALAZAR DE VEGAS, Elsa Z; NIEVES, Beatriz; RUIZ, Joaquín  y  VILA, Jordi. Use of the API 20NE System to identify species of the Acinetobacter genus and other non fermenting gram-negative bacilli. Rev. Soc. Ven. Microbiol. [online]. 2008, vol.28, n.2, pp.89-95. ISSN 1315-2556.

We used 62 strains initially identified as non fermenting gram-negative bacilli (NFGNB) isolated from patients with a nosocomial infection diagnosis with the purpose of identifying their genus and species. Forty five strains were identified as Acinetobacter baumannii, 10 as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 3 as Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, 3 as Comamonas acidovorans and 1 as  Achromobacter xylosoxidans subspecies xylosoxidans through the API 20NE. Regarding the Acinetobacter strains, the ARDRA allowed to identify 20 strains as A. baumannii and 23 as Acinetobacter genospecies 13TU, but 2 strains were not identified with this method. The ADNr 16S sequence of all the strains included in this study allowed to identify 20 strains as A. baumannii, 23 strains as Acinetobacter RUH1139, 10 as P. aeruginosa, 4 as A. xylosoxidans subsp. xylosoxidans (2 of these four strains strains had been identified as A. baumannii through API20NE), 3 as S. maltophilia, and 1 as C. acidovorans and 1 as β-Proteubacterium. The discrepancies between the biochemical identification by API 20NE and by ARDRA to differentiate the Acinetobacter genospecies was resolved by the ADNr16S sequencing, indicating that the identification of the Acinetobacter isolates, among other NFGNB, through API 20NE, should be confirmed through genetic techniques.

Palabras clave : Acinetobacter; API 20NE; ARDRA; ADNr16S Sequence.