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Bacteriology
Bacterial structure and functions
Bacillus anthracis (Anthrax)
Bacillus cereus (Food poisoning)
Corynebacterium diphtheriae (Diphtheria)
Listeria monocytogenes
Clostridium botulinum (Botulism)
Clostridium difficile (Pseudomembranous colitis)
Clostridium perfringens
Clostridium tetani (Tetanus)
Actinomyces israelii
Nocardia
Staphylococcus aureus
Staphylococcus epidermidis
Staphylococcus saprophyticus
Streptococcus agalactiae (Group B Strep)
Streptococcus pneumoniae
Streptococcus pyogenes (Group A Strep)
Streptococcus viridans
Enterococcus
Bordetella pertussis (Pertussis/Whooping cough)
Brucella
Francisella tularensis (Tularemia)
Haemophilus ducreyi (Chancroid)
Haemophilus influenzae
Pasteurella multocida
Campylobacter jejuni
Helicobacter pylori
Vibrio cholerae (Cholera)
Moraxella catarrhalis
Neisseria gonorrhoeae
Neisseria meningitidis
Bacteroides fragilis
Bartonella henselae (Cat-scratch disease and Bacillary angiomatosis)
Enterobacter
Escherichia coli
Klebsiella pneumoniae
Legionella pneumophila (Legionnaires disease and Pontiac fever)
Proteus mirabilis
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Salmonella (non-typhoidal)
Salmonella typhi (typhoid fever)
Serratia marcescens
Shigella
Yersinia enterocolitica
Yersinia pestis (Plague)
Chlamydia trachomatis
Chlamydia pneumoniae
Gardnerella vaginalis (Bacterial vaginosis)
Mycoplasma pneumoniae
Coxiella burnetii (Q fever)
Ehrlichia and Anaplasma
Rickettsia rickettsii (Rocky Mountain spotted fever) and other Rickettsia species
Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme disease)
Borrelia species (Relapsing fever)
Leptospira
Treponema pallidum (Syphilis)
Moraxella catarrhalis
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rhinosinusitis p. 697
Moraxella catarrhalis is a Gram-negative diplococcus, which means it’s a spherical-shaped bacteria that usually hangs out in pairs of two.
Moraxella has had a bunch of names over the last century.
When it was first discovered it was named Micrococcus catarrhalis, then its name was changed into Neisseria catarrhalis.
Later it was moved to another genus, called Branhamella, and finally it was moved again to genus Moraxella, species Moraxella catarrhalis.
It normally colonizes the upper respiratory tract, and usually causes otitis media in children.
Now, Moraxella catarrhalis has a thin peptidoglycan layer, so it doesn’t retain the crystal violet dye during Gram staining.
Instead, like any other Gram-negative bacteria, it stains pink with safranin dye.
Moraxella catarrhalis is also non-motile, non-spore forming, aerobic, which means it needs oxygen to survive, and oxidase positive, which means it produces an enzyme called oxidase.
However, it’s maltose fermentation negative which means it cannot ferment maltose.
To check for this, a pure sample from the culture is transferred to a sterile tube containing a mix of phenol red and maltose, which is then incubated at 36 degree Celsius for 24 hours.
If acidic fermentation of maltose occurs, the resulting byproducts make the solution go yellow.
With Moraxella catarrhalis, the solution stays red.
Finally, it grows well on blood and chocolate agar and it doesn’t grow on modified Thayer-Martin agar, like other Gram-negative diplococci, such as Neisseria species.
So, on blood and chocolate agar it grows into round, gray-white colonies.
Finally, Moraxella catarrhalis colonies are positive for the hockey puck test, which means a loop is used to push the colonies across the plate.
Moraxella colonies are sturdy, and can be slid across the plate without breaking, which means a positive hockey puck test.
Now, Moraxella catarrhalis is an opportunistic pathogen, which means that it doesn’t usually cause disease, but it may take advantage of an opportunity like a weakened immune system to cause an infection.
This is more common in children, the elderly, people with chronic respiratory disease, or following a viral respiratory infection.
So, in these situations, it causes an infection by attaching to host cells using trimeric autotransporter adhesins, or TAAs, which are proteins found on the outer membrane.
Moraxella catarrhalis is a type of gram-negative, diplococcus, aerobic bacteria, which is commonly found in human respiratory tract. It is a common cause of otitis media and respiratory infections, such as bronchitis, rhinosinusitis, laryngitis, and pulmonary exacerbations in people with COPD. It is diagnosed by isolating it from cultures, and its treatment requires antibiotics such as amoxicillin plus clavulanate.
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