Francisella noatunensis

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Classification

Domain: Bacteria

Phylum: Proteobacteria

Class: Gammaproteobacteria

Order: Thiotrichales

Family: Francisellaceae

Francisella noatunensis

NCBI: Taxonomy

Francisella spp. streaked on chocolate agar. Picture taken by Aaron Navratil

Description and Significance

Francisella noatunensis (F. noatunensis) are part of the family of Francisellaceae, which are aerobic, non-motile, coccobacilli gram-negative bacteria. Another feature of F. noatunensis is that they are facultative intracellular organisms in which they grow inside or outside of host cell. Being the cause of francisellosis, a fish disease that results in the development of granulomas, it has been a growing problem amongst fish farms and wild fish. There have been epidemics spanning across the globe affecting threeline grunt in Japan, tilapia in the Americas and Asia, hybrid striped bass in the Americas, Atlantic salmon in Chile, and Atlantic cod in Norway. With most of these epidemics affecting fish farms, the growing problem is resulting in a scramble to find out more about F. noatunensis and how it is causing the widespread problem. Recent research has suggested that there is no sign of zoonotic potential for humans. Which has been a concern as the closely related F. tularensis is a well-known human pathogen that causes tularemia. [1]

Structure, Metabolism, and Life Cycle

Interesting features of its structure; how it gains energy (how it replicates, if virus); what important molecules it produces (if any), does it have an interesting life cycle?

Ecology and Pathogenesis

Natural habitat (soil, water, commensal of humans or animals?)
If relevant, how does this organism cause disease? Human, animal, or plant hosts? Important virulence factors, as well as patient symptoms.

References

[1] Schrallhammer, M., Schweikert, M., Vallesi, A., Verni, F., and Petroni, G. (2011). Detection of a Novel Subspecies of Francisella noatunensis as Endosymbiont of the Ciliate Euplotes raikovi. Microb. Ecol. 61, 455–464. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00248-010-9772-9

Author

Page authored by Joseph Navratil, student of Mandy Brosnahan, Instructor at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, MICB 3301/3303: Biology of Microorganisms.