Gemmata species: Planctomycetes of medical interest

Abstract

The Planctomycetes genus Gemmata is represented by both uncultured organisms and cultured Gemmata obscuriglobus and ‘Gemmata massiliana’ organisms. Their plasmidless 9.2 Mb genomes encode a complex cell plan, cell signaling capacities, antibiotic and trace metal resistance and multidrug resistance efflux pumps. As they lack iron metabolism pathways, they are fastidious. Gemmata spp. are mainly found in aquatic and soil environments but have also been found in hospital water networks in close proximity to patients, in animals, on human skin, the gut microbiota and in the blood of aplastic leukemic patients. Due to their panoply of attack and defense mechanisms and their recently demonstrated association with humans, the potential of Gemmata organisms to behave as opportunistic pathogens should be more widely recognized.