What are the characteristics of Yersinia pestis?

Yersinia pestis — Key Characteristics

• Gram-negative bacilli, possible bipolar staining and a “safety pin” appearance.
• Nonhemolytic.
• Growth is faster at 25 to 28 degrees C than at 35 to 37 degrees C.
• At 48 to 72 hours the colonies on sheep blood agar have a “fried egg” appearance.
• Catalase positive.

Is Yersinia pestis lactose fermentation?

Yersinia pestis grows well on MacConkey agar, sheep blood agar, and chocolate agar. MacConkey agar is used to identify if a bacteria ferments lactose or not, and it contains a pH sensitive dye and lactose. Yersinia pestis doesn’t, so no precipitate forms.

Is Yersinia a glucose fermenter?

Yersinia are pleomorphic, bipolar-staining, gram-negative coccobacilli. They are aerobic or facultatively anaerobic, non–spore-forming bacteria that ferment glucose, are oxidase negative, and reduce nitrates to nitrites.

Does Yersinia pestis ferment sucrose?

Biochemical tests that are important for speciation within the genus Yersinia are fermentation of sucrose, rhamnose, raffinose and melibiose and the utilization of citrate (Table 1).

Who or what does the Yersinia pestis usually infect?

Y. pestis primarily infects small ground-dwelling mammals, specifically of the taxonomic order Rodentia, but maintains high spillover potential to other vertebrates, including humans, caused by its high virulence and fleaborne transmission.

Does Yersinia pestis have a flagellum?

It is hypothesised that the flagellum evolved from the type three secretory system. For example, the bubonic plague bacterium Yersinia pestis has an organelle assembly very similar to a complex flagellum, except that is missing only a few flagellar mechanisms and functions, such as a needle to inject toxins into other cells.

What does the bacteria Yersinia pestis do in nature?

Yersinia pestis is a zoonotic bacteria that causes plague or the Black Death during medieval times, that is most commonly transmitted through fleas that feed on infected rodents. Yersinia pestis is a Gram-negative, non-motile, non-spore-forming coccobacillus that is also a facultative anaerobe 1).

How does Yersinia pestis get its energy?

Y. pestis uses aerobic respiration and anaerobic fermentation to produce and consume hydrogen gas for energy. Yersinia pestis interacts mainly with rodents such as rats and fleas.