<i>Bartonella</i> Species in Small Mammals in Turkey: <i>Bartonella bilalgolemii</i> sp. nov. Isolated from a Ural Field Mouse ( <i>Apodemus uralensis</i> )

<b><i>Background:</i></b> The genus <i>Bartonella</i> is composed of Gram-negative, fastidious, facultative intracellular bacteria that can cause bacteremia in mammals and various disorders in humans. Rodents have been reported as reservoirs of more than 30 <i>Bartonella</i> species, seven of which cause zoonotic infections. <b><i>Materials and Methods:</i></b> In the present study, the isolation of <i>Bartonella</i> sp. was attempted from 150 spleen samples from 13 rodent species (mostly <i>Apodemus</i> species) from three geographically different regions in Turkey. <b><i>Results:</i></b> <i>Bartonella</i> sp. was successfully isolated from 65 of these 150 samples (43%). The prevalences of <i>Bartonella</i> sp. in tested rodents in the regions of Giresun, Yozgat, and Burdur were 68%, 44%, and 16%, respectively. Using polymerase chain reaction/sequence analysis of the citrate synthase-coding gene (<i>gltA</i>), Bartonellaisolates were classified seven species including <i>B. taylorii</i>, <i>B. grahamii</i>, <i>B. birtlesii</i>, <i>B. mastomydis</i>, and three putatively new <i>Bartonella</i> species. We performed further identification techniques for one of the three <i>Bartonella</i> species that were different from the validated <i>Bartonella</i> species according to the <i>gltA</i> sequence analysis. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> Here, we report the genomic and phenotypic characterization of <i>Bartonella</i> sp. strain G70 that was isolated from the splenic tissue of an <i>Apodemus uralensis</i> (Pallas 1881), the Ural field mouse, captured in the Giresun region of northeastern Turkey. <i>Bartonella</i> sp. strainG70 (RSKK 22001) was characterized by whole genome and partial gene (<i>gltA</i>, 16S ribosomal RNA) sequencing and comparison, scanning electron microscopy, biochemical tests, and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. This novel <i>Bartonella</i> is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium and has neither flagella nor pili. The genome from strain G70 was 1,606,969-bp-long with a G + C content of 35.7%. <i>Bartonella rochalimae</i> was found to be the closest phylogenetic relative of strain G70 (OrthoANI = 90.5%, digital DNA-DNA hybridization = 41.4%). We therefore propose that this new species be named <i>Bartonella bilalgolemii</i> sp. nov. with strain G70^T as the type strain.