Cryptococcosis is a fungal infection caused by the encapsulated yeast, Cryptococcus neoformans. Its incidence is increasing in patients, especially those with defects of cellmediated immunity(l). The usual route of entry is probably via the lungs, where mostly the infection goes unnoticed and has a strong predilection for the central nervous system (CNS). The disease primarily presents as a sub...

Facklamia hominis is a rare causative organism of infective endocarditis (IE). Only few cases of infection due to F. hominis have been reported in the literature. We describe a case of IE due to Gram-positive, alpha-haemolytic, catalase-negative coccus F. hominis in an adult patient with rheumatic mitral stenosis. Isolated mitral stenosis is an uncommon valve lesion predisposing to IE. The foll...

Two strains of a hitherto-undescribed gram-positive, catalase-negative coccus isolated from human sources were characterized by phenotypic and molecular taxonomic methods. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequencing studies demonstrated that the unknown strains are genealogically identical and constitute a new line close to, but distinct from, Facklamia hominis. The unknown bacterium was readily disti...

Peptococcus magnus is a biochemically inactive anaerobic Gram-positive coccus similar in morphology to the staphylococcus. It has been found (Smith, 1975) as part of the normal flora of the mouth, vagina, and skin. Previous reports (Pien et al., 1972; Spaulding et al., 1974) have described significant infections with this organism, but knowledge of its pathogenicity is incomplete since speciati...

Nosocomiicoccus massiliensis strain NP2(T) sp. nov. is the type strain of a new species within the genus Nosocomiicoccus. This strain, whose genome is described here, was isolated from the fecal flora of an AIDS-infected patient living in Marseille, France. N. massiliensis is a Gram-positive aerobic coccus. Here we describe the features of this organism, together with the complete genome sequen...

Lactococcus garvieae is a Gram-positive coccus that has morphological and biochemical similarities to enterococci. L. garvieae strains rare human pathogens, with only a few cases reported in the literature, mainly as a cause of infective endocarditis. L. garvieae is well known as a fish pathogen, and in some of the reported cases, the patients had a history of contact with raw fish. Some of the...

The ability of living organisms to survive extraterrestrial conditions has implications for the origins of life in the solar system. We have therefore studied the survival of viruses, bacteria, yeast, and fungi under simulated Martian conditions. The environment on Mars was simulated by low temperature, proton irradiation, ultraviolet irradiation, and simulated Martian atmosphere (CO2 95.46%,...

Three strains of a gram-positive catalase-negative, facultatively anaerobic coccus-shaped organism originating from human clinical samples were characterized by phenotypic and molecular taxonomic methods. Sequencing of genes encoding 16S rRNA showed that the strains are phylogenetically closely related (99.9 to 100% sequence similarity) and represent a new subline within the genus Facklamia. Th...

Six strains of a hitherto-undescribed gram-positive, catalase-negative, facultatively anaerobic coccus from human sources were characterized by phenotypic and molecular taxonomic methods. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequencing studies demonstrated that the unknown strains are genealogically homogeneous and constitute a new subline within the genus Gemella. The unknown bacterium was readily distin...