Discovery of Microbacterium hatanonis in hairspray products

New Bacterium

Scientists in Japan, Mohammad Abdul Bakir, Takuji Kudo and Yoshimi Benno, have discovered a new species of bacteria named Microbacterium hatanonis sp. Nov. that can live in the cosmetic product hairspray (New species of bacteria contaminates hairspray, 2008). The scientists reported this discovery in the March, 2008 issue of the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. They named Microbacterium hatanonis in honor of Dr. Kazunori Hatano, a well-known Microbacterium expert (Contaminated hairspray, 2008).

Uniqueness

The scientists looked at the appearance and diet of the bacterium and then analysed its genome to show that it is a new species (New species of bacteria contaminates hairspray, 2008). Although the bacteria belonged to the previously known genus Microbacterium, the scientists determined that it had a distinct, evolutionary lineage on the basis of the morphological, physiological and chemotaxonomic data and the results of the comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis (Bakir, Kudo and Benno, 2008).

Taxonomy

Bakir, Kudo and Benno (2008) report that Microbacterium hatanonis is an aerobic, rod-shaped, gram-positive, oxidase-ngative, catalase-positive bacterial isolate. The cell wall of Microbacterium hatanonis contained ornithine and the cell-wall sugars consisted of rhamnose and galactose. The main respiratory quinones were MK-12 (38%) and MK-11 (35%). The major cellular fatty acids were anteiso-C15: 0 (48%), anteiso-C17: 0 (35%) and iso-C16: 0 (11%). The DNA G+C content was 69 mol%. The isolate showed

Epidemiology

The epidemiology of Microbacterium hatanis is unknown at this time (New species of bacteria contaminates hairspray, 2008). However, researchers have found similar bacteria to infect humans and are concerned with what impact Microbacterium hatanis will have. For this reason, researchers will conduct additional testing to determine if the new species poses a health threat and, if so, researchers will make recommendations for new hairspray formulations to prevent future contamination.

Conclusion