Streptococcus zooepidemicus
A Microbial Biorealm page on the genus Streptococcus zooepidemicus
Classification
Higher order taxa
Bacteria; Firmicutes; Bascilli; Lactobacillales; Streptococcaceae; Streptococcus
Species
|
NCBI: Taxonomy |
Streptococcus equi
Subspecies
zooepidemicus
Other names
“Animal pyogenes, type A” [Edwards 1934]
“Streptococcus pyogene animalis” [Seelemann 1942]
“Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus” [Farrow and Collins 1985]
Type Strains
ATCC 43079
DSM 20727
NCDO 1358
Description and significance
Streptococcus zooepidemicus is one of the two subspecies of Streptococcus equi; it is suggested to be the species from which subspecies equi has been derived (5). Subspecies zooepidemicus is a normal bacterial flora in horses. It is isolated from wound infections of horses, and it has been isolated from other mammals such as cows, rabbits, and swine (3). In some cases, subspecies zooepidemicus is also isolated from humans through throat swabs (4). It occasionally causes human infection that can be traced back to contact with horses or consumption of unpasteurized dairy products (4).
Like other streptococci, Streptococcus zooepidemicus is a non-motile, non-sporulating, encapsulated, gram-positive, catalse-negative, and coccoid bacterium. It is a beta hemolytic streptococcus that produces hyaluronic acid but not streptolysin O and occurs in pairs or long chains (2). It is also lactose positive and is capable of fermenting sorbitol but not trehalose (3, 28).
Genome structure
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Cell structure and metabolism
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Ecology
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Pathology
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Application to Biotechnology
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Current Research
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References
Edited by Jenny Chong, student of Rachel Larsen
