''Acinetobacter calcoaceticus'' is a bacterial species of the genus ''

Acinetobacter ''Acinetobacter'' is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria belonging to the wider class of Gammaproteobacteria. ''Acinetobacter'' species are oxidase-negative, exhibit twitching motility, and occur in pairs under magnification. They are important ...

''. It is a nonmotile,

Gram-negative Gram-negative bacteria are bacteria that, unlike gram-positive bacteria, do not retain the crystal violet stain used in the Gram staining method of bacterial differentiation. Their defining characteristic is that their cell envelope consists ...

coccobacillus Bacterial cellular morphologies are the shapes that are characteristic of various types of bacteria and often key to their identification. Their direct examination under a light microscope enables the classification of these bacteria (and archae ...

. It grows under aerobic conditions, is catalase positive and oxidase negative. ''A. calcoaceticus'' is a part of the A. calcoaceticus-A. baumannii complex together with ''Acinetobacter baumannii'', ''Acinetobacter nosocomialis'', ''Acinetobacter pitti'' and ''Acinetobacter seifertii''.

Habitat

''A. calcoaceticus'' is a soil bacterium. It has been shown to be in the human body's in moist areas like the mouth, groin, respiratory tract, and gastrointestinal tract. It is also present in Tiger mosquito (''

Aedes albopictus ''Aedes albopictus'' (synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Stegomyia albopicta''), from the mosquito (Culicidae) family (biology), family, also known as the (Asian) tiger mosquito or forest mosquito, is a mosquito native to the tropical and Subtropics ...

'') microflora.

Metabolism

Phloroglucinol carboxylic acid Phloroglucinol carboxylic acid, also called ‘Phloroglucinic acid’ or simply ‘PGCA’, is a trihydroxybenzoic acid, a type of phenolic acid. It can be encountered in nature were it is produced by plants or microorganisms. Structurally, the m ...

is a degradation product excreted by ''A. calcoaceticus'' grown on (+)-

catechin Catechin is a flavan-3-ol, a type of secondary metabolite providing antioxidant roles in plants. It belongs to the subgroup of polyphenols called flavonoids. The name of the catechin chemical family derives from ''catechu'', which is the tannic ...

as the sole source of carbon.

Uses

''A. calcoaceticus'' can be used as an alternative to ''A. baumannii'' in the laboratory setting. The interchangeability of the two species stems from their extreme degree of similarity and ability to form the A. calcoaceticus-A. baumannii complex. Other contributing factors include the cost-effective nature of ''A. calcoaceticus'' compared to ''A. baumannii'' and the ability of ''A. calcoaceticus'' to readily uptake DNA.

References

External links

Acinetobacter calcoaceticus on www.ncbi.nlm.nih.govType strain of ''Acinetobacter calcoaceticus'' at Bac''Dive'' - the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase
Moraxellaceae {{Pseudomonadales-stub