Common Bacteria and Characteristics

Common Bacteria and Their Characteristics

• Bacillus anthracis, the cause of anthrax, is also known as Anthrax Bacillus.
• Brucella spp, the cause of Bang's Bacillus also known as Bang's Bacillus.
• Mycobacterium intracellulare, also known as Battey Bacillus.
• Bordetella pertussis, the cause of pertussis, is also known as Bordet-Gengou Bacillus.
• Clostridium botulinum, the cause of botulism, is known as Canned food Bacillus.
• Escherichia coli, a common inhabitant of the colon, is also known as Colon Bacillus.
• Vibrio spp are comma-shaped or curved bacilli.
• Eikenella corrodens is a bacterium known for causing pitting of the agar.
• Aggregibacter aphrophilus is a foam-loving bacterium.
• Klebsiella pneumoniae, causing pneumonia, is also known as Friedlander's Bacillus.
• Bacillus cereus, associated with fried rice, is also known as Fried rice Bacillus.
• Clostridium perfringes, responsible for gas gangrene, is also known as Gas gangrene Bacillus.
• Mycobacterium leprae, the cause of leprosy, is also known as Hansen's Bacillus.
• Bacillus subtilis is known as Hay Bacillus.
• Corynebacterium pseudodiptheriticum, also known as Hoffman Bacillus.
• Corynebacterium diphtheriae, causing diphtheria, is also known as Kleb-Loeffler Bacillus.
• Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the cause of tuberculosis, is also known as Koch's Bacillus.
• Haemophilus aegypticus is also known as Koch-Weeks Bacillus.
• Moraxella lacunata is also known as Morax-Axenfeld Bacillus.
• Haemophilus influenza is also known as Pfeiffer's Bacillus.
• Yersinia pestis, causing plague, is also known as Plague Bacillus.
• Clostridium tetani, causing tetanus, is also known as Tackhead Bacillus.
• Mycobacterium gordonae is known as Tap Water Bacillus.
• Burkholderia pseudomallei is known as Whitmore Bacillus or Vietnamese Time Bomb.
• Mycobacterium avium subsp. Silvaticum, cause of avian TB, is also known as Wood pigeon Bacillus.
• Mycobacterium kansasii is known as Yellow Bacillus.

Gram Positive Cocci - Organisms & Virulence Factors

• Staphylococcus aureus produces coagulase as a virulence factor.
• Streptococcus pyogenes uses M protein as a virulence factor.
• Streptococcus agalactiae produces a capsule with sialic acid as a virulence factor.
• Viridans Streptococci produce a capsule as a virulence factor.
• Streptococcus pneumoniae produces a polysaccharide capsule as a virulence factor.
• Enterococci produces extracellular serine protease, gelatinase and cytolysin as virulence factors.

Gram Negative Cocci - Organisms & Virulence Factors

• Neisseria gonorrhoeae utilizes common pili as a virulence factor.
• Neisseria meningitidis uses IgA1, Por A, Por B and LOS endotoxin as virulence factors.

Enterobacteriaceae - Organisms & Virulence Factors

• Escherichia coli utilizes endotoxin as a virulence factor.
• Klebsiella pneumoniae uses a polysaccharide capsule as a virulence factor.
• Salmonella spp utilize fimbriae and enterotoxin (S. enterica) as virulence factors.
• Yersinia pestis utilizes endotoxin, coagulase and fibrinolysin as virulence factors.

Non-enteric Gastrointestinal Pathogens - Organisms & Virulence Factors

• Shigella dysenteriae utilizes Shiga toxin as a virulence factor.
• Vibrio cholera utilizes choleragen as a virulence factor.
• Vibrio parahaemolyticus utilizes heat-stable hemolysin as a virulence factor.
• Listeria monocytogenes utilizes Listeriolysion O (hemolytic, cytotoxic), superoxide dismutase and p60 as virulence factors.

Mycobacteria (Acid Fast Bacilli) - Virulence Factors

• Mycobacterium tuberculosis utilizes Cord factor as a virulence factor.

Anaerobic Bacteria - Virulence Factors

• Clostridium perfringes produces alpha toxin and enterotoxin as virulence factors.
• Clostridium tetani produces tetanospasmin (neurotoxin) as a virulence factor.
• Clostridium difficile produces Toxin A (enterotoxin) & Toxin B (cytotoxin) as virulence factors.
• Clostridium botulinum produces botulism toxin which is considered the most potent toxin.

Spirochetes and Misc. Bacteria - Virulence Factors

• Leptospira utilizes hemolysin interrogans as a virulence factor.

Motility Patterns of Various Organisms

• Capnocytophaga exhibits twitching motility in wet mounts.
• Chromobacterium violaceum and Kingella display twitching motility.
• Pseudomonas spp. exhibit gliding motility.
• Burkholderia spp. are motile except B. mallei.
• Burkholderia pseudomallei, Aeromonas (Mesophilic grp.): A. hydrophila, A. veronii, A. caviae, and Campylobacter spp. exhibit darting motility.
• Helicobacter spp. display darting motility as well.
• Vibrio spp. exhibit darting motility.
• Acaligenes faecalis exhibits darting motility.
• Bacillus spp., except B. anthracis & B. mycoides, are motile.
• Clostridium spp., except C. perfringes, C. ramosum & C. innocuum, are motile.
• Enterobacteriaciae, except Klebsiella, Yersinia & Shigella, are motile.
• Kurthia spp. displays shooting star motility.
• Listeria monocytogenes tumbles (Hanging drop @ RT) and shows umbrella/inverted Christmas tree (SIM @ RT).
• Spirochetes exhibit corkscrew motility.
• Leptospira displays spinning motility.
• Treponema displays flexing motility.
• Shigella, Klebsiella, Yersinia and Listeria are non-motile at 35°C.

Appearance Of Some Bacteria In Microscopy/Culture

• Staphylococcus aureus colonies appear "Buttery looking," golden yellow, pinhead.
• Staphylococcus epidermidis colonies appear gray and pinpoint.
• Streptococcus pneumoniae appears oval or lancet-shaped in gram stain with young colonies "dome-shaped" and old colonies "coin with raised rim/ dimple shaped".
• Abitrophia/Granulicatella is gram-variable, pleomorphic with "Satellite" colonies surrounding organism with pyridoxal.
• Neisseria gonorrhoeae are coffee/kidney-bean shaped.
• Neisseria elongata are rod-shaped.
• Neisseria bacilliformis forms bluish gray colonies on BAP.
• Neisseria sicca colonies appear as bread crumbs.
• Resemble Neisseria; grow from end to end with adjacent sides flattened
• Moraxella catarrhalis (Branhamella catarrhalis) appears in "Hockey-puck" appearance.
• Enteroadherent E. coli (EAEC) appears in "Stacked brick" appearance.
• Serratia odorifera has a musty, pungent, "rotten potato-like" odor.
• Proteus smells like "Burnt chocolate or gunpowder".
• Yersinia pestis are closed safety pin-like organisms with bipolar bodies and stalactite-shaped pattern in broth.
• Yersinia enterocolitica have bipolar bodies and appear in a "Bull's eye" in CIN medium.
• Vibrio are Comma, curved bacilli.
• Aeromonas and its culture appear in "Bull's eye" appearance in CIN.
• Campylobacter are S-shaped rods with "Tailing effect and spreading".
• Helicobacter are S-shaped rods.
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa displays metallic sheen in BAP with "grape-like or corn tortilla" odor.
• Acinetobacter are mistaken as Neisseria and their culture smells like "ammonia".
• Stenotrophomonas maltophilia displays Lavender-green colonies in BAP and blue colonies in MAC.
• Buckholderia cepacia forms non-wrinkled yellow colonies in BAP.
• Buckholderia pseudomallei has with bipolar bodies
• Chromobacterium violaceum are Comma and curved bacilli and display Violet (violacein pigment)
• Alcaligenes faecalis have a fruity odor ("apples or strawberries").
• Shewanella putrefaciens form mucoid and greenish colonies (including the media)
• Haemophilus spp colonies have a "Mousy" or "bleach-like" odor
• Haemophilus ducreyi appears in "School of fish".
• Aggregibacter actinomycetemcomitans appears in "Star-shaped"
• Cardiobacterium hominis appears in "False Gram positive" reactions in some parts of cells.
• Eikenella corrodens forms rosette formation and pits agar, their culture have a "Sharp bleach odor".
• Brucella have "Sandy appearance".
• Bordetella pertussis forms "Mercury drops" in Berdet-Gengou agar.
• Francisella tularensis has a faint bipolar staining.
• Pasteurella multocida have mushroom smell.
• Legionella culture create "Rainbow color" colonies in buffered charcoal yeast extract (BCYE) agar.
• Bacillus spp. appear Box-car shaped with "empty spaces" (central spores).
• Bacillus anthracis show "Bamboo fishing rod" appearance, "Medusa head" colonies with swirling projections (USE INOCULATING LOOP), "Beaten hen egg" colonies.
• Bacillus cereus colonies appear "Frosted glass", spreading growth
• Bacillus subtilis colonies appear "Ground-glass" and exhibit pigment atoms in BAP.
• Bacillus pumilus colonies are are Blister-like colonies.
• Corynebacterium diptheriae has "Club-shaped" swellings colonies, is Highly pleomorphic, resembling Chinese letters, and form "Poached egg" in Pai's slant or Loeffler's serum agar.
• Corynebacterium urealyticum has V-shaped forms and palisades and pinpoint colonies.
• Colony morphology and characteristics of various aerobic actinomycetes as well as several mycobacterium species are described.
• Clostridium perfringens have Subterminal spores, "boxcar-shaped" with BAP Double zone of hemolysis and stormy Stormy fermentation and litmus milk as a culture.
• Clostridium tetani have Terminal spores, "drumstick" or "tennis racket" appearance.
• Clostridium Botulinum has Subterminal spores.
• Clostridium difficile exhibits "ground glass" appearance in cycloserine-cefoxitin-fructose agar, BAP has "Horse stable" odor.
• Young colonies are "Spider-like" or "wooly" in Anaerobic Actinomycetes.

Selective and Designated Culture Media

• Mannitol Salt Agar (MSA) are used as a selective and/or differential medium
• Colistin-nalidixic-agar (CNA) - for purulent exudates
• Phenyl ethyl alcohol (PEA) - selective for Gram (+) bacteria
• Thayer-Martin Agar - Vancomycin + Colistin + Niacin
• Modified Thayer-Martin Agar - VCN + Trimethoprim lactate
• BCYE with L-cysteine, ferric salt, α-ketoglutarate - preferred in Legionella cultures

Disease Associations

• Staphylococcus aureus is associated with Toxic shock syndrome, Scalded skin syndrome and food poisoning.
• Streptococcus pyogenes is associated with Strep throat, Scarlet fever, Rheumatic fever, Acute glomerulonephritis/Bright's disease, Strep toxic shock syndrome.
• Neisseria gonorrhoeae can cause STDs (gonorrhea)
• Neisseria meningitides causes Waterhouse-Friederichsen Syndrome (from LOS endotoxin).
• Vibrio cholerae associated w/ Cholera (rice-watery stool)
• Vibrio parahaemolyticus w/ Summer diarrhea
• Aeromonas hydrophila w/ Traveler's diarrhea, "red leg disease" in amphibians
• Campylobacter with Guillain-Barre syndrome and is the MOST COMMON CAUSE OF BACTERIAL GASTROENTERITIS

Miscellaneous Facts

• Escherichia coli (UPEC) can cause a UTI (urinary tract infection)
• Haemophilus influenza can cause meningitis in children, and in adults, cause otitis media
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa agent of Blue Pus, ecthyma gangrenosum, swimmer's ear, Jacuzzi syndrome (necrotizing skin rash), lung infection in cystic fibrosis px
• Aeromonas and its culture appear in "Bull's eye" appearance in CIN.
• Yersinia enterocolitica have bipolar bodies

Culture Characteristics of Organisms

• Medusa head colonies are produced by Bacillus anthracis, Clostridium septicum and Kurthia.
• Fried egg appearance is seen in Corynebacterium diphtheriae biotype mitis and Mycoplasma hominis.
• The media used to grow Borrelia, Leptospira, and Gardnerella vaginalis.
• TSI (ferrous sulfate) used test for H2S.
• The rapid urease producer are Corynebacterium urealyticum, T. mentagrophytes.
• Enterobacter gergoviae has positive aerial hyphae.
• TSI is yellow and positive in ONPG (ortho-Nitrophenyl-β-galactoside).

Rickettsiae & Related Organisms

• Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is caused by Rickettsia rickettsii.
• Brill-Zinsser disease caused by Rickettsia prowazekii.
• Scrub Typhus Group contains Orientia tsutsugamushi.
• Bartonella bacilliformis can cause Oroya fever and verruga peruana.

TORCHES Infections

• TORCHES is an acronym for congenital infections.
• Toxoplasma gondii (cat feces)- congenital infection.
• Rubella (Togaviridae, German measles)- congenital infection.
• Congenital infection caused by Cytomegalovirus (CMV) - requires BB screening for infants and children.
• Herpes viruses are congenital infections.
• Syphilis (T. pallidum)- congenital infection.
• Black Death caused by Yersinia Pestis.

Explore various common bacteria, their characteristics, and associated diseases. Learn about Bacillus anthracis (Anthrax), Brucella spp (Bang's Bacillus), Mycobacterium intracellulare (Battey Bacillus), and more. Understand their unique features and the illnesses they cause.