VetBact

Phylum	Class	Order	Family	Genus	Species/Subspecies

Species/Subspecies:

Capnocytophaga canimorsus

Categories:

Zoonotic; motile; in the normal flora; primarily of interest in human medicin

Etymology:

Genus name: bacteria that require carbon dioxide and are related to the bacteria of the genus Cytophaga.
Species epithet: from a dog bite.

Significance:

Mainly of human medical interest, but also of importance in veterinary medicine as it occurs in the normal mouth flora of the dog and cat.
[Important]

Alternative Species Name(s):

Dysgonic fermenter 2 (DF-2).

Taxonomy:

Phylum
Bacteroidetes

Class
Flavobacteriia

Order
Flavobacteriales

Family
Flavobacteriaceae

Genus
Capnocytophaga

Type Strain:

7120 = ATCC 35979 = NCTC 12242.

Macromorphology (smell):

Grows slowly and after 24 hours they can form small yellowish colonies (up to 1 mm in diameter).

Micromorphology:

Rod shaped (ca 4 x 0.5 µm). The bacterium has no flagella, but can glide on surfaces.

Gram +/Gram -:

G-

Metabolism:

Facultatively anaerobic

Catalase/Oxidase:

+/+

Fermentation of carbohydrates:

D-glucose	lactose	maltose	L-rhamnose	sucrose
+	+	+	?	-
L-arabinose	cellobiose	D-mannitol	salicin	trehalose
?	(-)	-	?	?
glycerol	inulin	raffinose	D-sorbitol	starch
?	-	-	?	?

C. canimorsus does not ferment inulin, raffinose and sucrose, which differentiates it from many closely related species.

Spec. Char.:

Disease:

The bacterium is part of the normal mouth flora of dogs and cats, but can cause serious human infections, especially after dog bites. The infection may result in sepsis.

Hosts:

Dogs and cats.

Clinical Picture:

Genome Sequence:

Acc-no	Strain	Size (bp)	Genome
	Cc5	2 571 406

16S rRNA Seq.:

Acc-no	Strain	Number of NT	Operon
X97246	ATCC 35979^T	1 423

Taxonomy/phylogeny:

Eleven species have been described within the genus Capnocytophaga. and this genus is closely related to the genera Flavobacterium and Riemerella.

Reference(s):

No. 142, 143

Updated:

2020-11-05

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