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Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Veterinary bacteriology: information about important bacteria
Veterinary bacteriology


Species/Subspecies: Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus
Categories: Zoonotic; causes hemolysis
Etymology: Genus name: twisted (like a chain) coccus (coccus means a grain or a berry and refers to any spherical microorganism)
Species epithet: of horse
Subspecies epithet: prevalent among animals
Significance:  [Very important]   
Taxonomy:
Phylum
Bacillota
Class
Bacilli
Order
Lactobacillales
Family
Streptococcaceae 
Genus
Streptococcus
Type Strain: ATCC 43079 = CCUG 23256 = NCTC 4676.
Macromorphology (smell):
     
Small (1 mm in diameter), transparent and round colonies after incubation for 24 h at 37°C on blood agar. The colonies resemble water droplets. Clear and broad hemolysis zone on blood agar (beta-hemolysis).
Micromorphology: Nonmotile cocci in chains
Gram +/Gram -:
   
G+
Metabolism: Fakultatively anaerobic
Catalase/Oxidase:-/-
Other Enzymes: Esculinase v, hippuricase -, koagulase -, urease -
Biochemical Tests: Voges-Proskauer -
Fermentation of carbohydrates:
D-glucose
+
lactose
+
maltose
+
L-rhamnose
?
sucrose
+
L-arabinose
-
cellobiose
?
D-mannitol
-
salicin
+
trehalose
v
glycerol
-
inulin
-
raffinose
-
D-sorbitol
+
starch
+
Other carbohydrates: amygdalin ?, ribose +
Spec. Char.:
Special Media:
Streptococcus equi  
Purple agar with lactose can be used to differentiate S. equi subsp. zooepidemicus, which is a lactose fermenter, from S. equi subsp. equi, which is not fermenting lactose.
Disease:
HostsDiseaseClinical picture
HorseUpper airway diseases, pneumonia, mastitis, endometritis, wound infections, dermatitis, foal septicemiaCause the most common opportunistic infections of horses
CattleMastitisRelatively uncommon udder pathogen
DogsHaemorrhagic pneumoniaSevere, bloody pneumonia
Genome Sequence:
Acc-noStrainSize (bp)Genome
NC_011134 MGCS10565 2 024 171 1c + 0 

16S rRNA Seq.:
Acc-noStrainNumber of NTOperon
EF406034 ATCC 43079T 1 475 

Taxonomy/phylogeny:
 
About 100 species have been described within the genus Streptococcus. Many species within the genus Enterococcus have earlier been classified as streptococci and, thus, they are closely related. S. equi consists of three subspecies, which are related to S. devriesei.
Comment:Belongs to Lancefield's group C streptcocci.
Updated:2023-03-08

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