Streptococcus anginosus

Cultures of Streptococcus anginosus on blood agar

Streptococcus anginosus is a bacterium of the genus Streptococcus. As part of the human bacterial flora colonized in particular the human oral cavity. Under certain conditions it can act as disease triggers.

Description

Streptococcus anginosus are coccal ( rounded ), Gram-positive and aero -tolerant bacteria that grow in chains. In culture, they form dry, rough and crumbly or smooth and soft, white or gray colonies with a diameter of 1-2 millimeters. A production of polysaccharide capsules is only been described in a biovar.

Dissemination and pathogenicity

Streptococcus anginosus is a part of the normal flora of humans. It is mostly found in the oral cavity, where it is the most common type, and the upper parts of the respiratory organs, along with it but can be found in the digestive tract and genitourinary tract.

Streptococcus anginosus can cause diseases, mainly purulent inflammation of the urogenital tract and the digestive tract, but also the skin, the bones and the head. In immunodeficient persons, the bacteria can also be reached via the bloodstream other tissues and organs and cause diseases, such as in the central nervous system, in the abdomen or in the blood itself

System

Streptococcus anginosus is the name -giving nature of the so-called anginosus group within the streptococci, are placed in the Streptococcus constellatus and Streptococcus also still intermedius. The Group is in terms of taxonomy and nomenclature as difficult and contradictory, recent results, however, support the division into three types. The group is sometimes referred to as Milleri group after no longer recognized species Streptococcus milleri whose isolates were identified by genetic testing as S. anginosus (or in one case, S. intermedius ).

Within the species, there are two groups of genetic similarity. The majority of β -hemolytic strains of the Lancefield group C is one of the two groups. However, since they can not be unambiguously determined biochemically, this distinction is without taxonomic relevance.

Evidence

• Jeremy M. Hardie, Robert A. Whiley: The Genus Streptococcus Oral. In: The Prokaryotes, 4:76-107, 2006

• Streptococci
• Streptococcus