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Phylum	Class	Order	Family	Genus	Species/Subspecies

Species/Subspecies:

Yersinia pestis

Etymology:

Genus name: named after the French bacteriologist A.J.E. Yersin, who in 1894 first isolated the bacterium, which causes the plague.
Species epithet: the plague.

Significance:

Abbout 1000 cases are reported to WHO each year.
[Very important]

Taxonomy:

Phylum
Pseudomonadota

Class
Gammaproteobacteria

Order
Enterobacterales

Family
Yersiniaceae

Genus
Yersinia

Type Strain:

ATCC 19428 = NCTC 5923

Macromorphology (smell):

Micromorphology:

Nonmotile rods

Gram +/Gram -:

G-

Metabolism:

Facultatively anaerobic

Catalase/Oxidase:

+/-

Other Enzymes:

Tryptophanase - och urease -

Biochemical Tests:

Citrate -, aesculinase -, methyl red +.

Fermentation of carbohydrates:

D-glucose
+

lactose
-

maltose
V

L-rhamnose
-

sucrose
-

L-arabinose
+

cellobiose
-

D-mannitol
+

salicin
?

trehalose
+

glycerol
V

inulin
?

raffinose
-

D-sorbitol
-

starch
?

Glucose (gas) -. Cf. other Yersinia spp.

Spec. Char.:

Vector:

Flea

Reservoir:

Different species of rodents.

Disease:

Hosts	Disease	Clinical picture
Humans	Plague (Black death)	The three most common recognised clinical forms are: Bubonic, enlarged lymphnodes with pus that may rupture Septicaemic, fever, chills, extreme weakness, abdominal pain, shock, and possibly bleeding into the skin and other organs. Skin and other tissues may turn black and die, especially on fingers, toes, and the nose. Pneumonic, fever, headache, pneumonia, chest pain and cough, sometimes bloody. Pneumonic plague is the only form of plague that can be spread from person to person
Cats	Plague	Mandibular lymphadenitis, fever, depression, anorexia, sneezing and occasionally nervous disturbance. Most infections are fatal
Rodents	Sylvatic plague	Usually latent

Virulence Factors:

The so-called pgm-locus, with a size of 102 kb and which is flanked by 2 IS100-elements. The pgm-locus contains several virulence genes, one of which makes it possible for the bacterium to take up and store hemin. This gene makes it also possible for the bacterium to take up the stain Congo red, which can be utilized for differentiation of virulent and nonvirulent strains (see image under Macromorphologi).

Genome Sequence:

Acc-no	Strain	Size (bp)	Genome
NC_003143	CO-92	4 653 728	1l + 3l

16S rRNA Seq.:

Acc-no	Strain	Number of NT	Operon
AF366383	NCTC 5923^T	1461	6

Taxonomy/phylogeny:

Within the genus Yersinia, 20 species have been described. All species belong to the family Enterobacteriaceae.

Legislation:

Yersinia pestis belongs to category A, as a possible biological warfare agent according to NIAID.

Reference(s):

No. 174

Updated:

2023-03-29

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