''Erysipelothrix'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...

containing four described species: '' Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae'', ''Erysipelothrix tonsillarum'', ''Erysipelothrix inopinata'' and ''Erysipelothrix larvae''. Additional species have been proposed based on DNA-DNA hybridization studies. "The hallmark of ''Erysipelothrix'' is the presence of a type B cell wall, in which the peptide bridge is formed between amino acids at positions 2 and 4 of adjacent peptide side-chains and not, as in the vast majority of bacteria, between amino acids at positions 3 and 4." The best-known species within the genus is '' Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae'', which is the cause of erysipelas of domestic pigs, poultry and other animal species. In humans, ''E. rhusiopathiae'' infections are termed erysipeloid. ''Erysipelothrix tonsillarum'' has been described as a

pathogen In biology, a pathogen (, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of"), in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a Germ theory of d ...

for dogs and has been isolated from the tonsils of healthy pigs and cattle. Disease caused by ''E. inopinata'' or ''E. larvae'' has not been described. Bacteria of genus ''Erysipelothrix'' are straight or slightly curved, slender, nonmotile rods that may exist singly, in V-shaped pairs, or in short chains. Some strains have a tendency to form long filaments. The bacteria are

Gram-positive In bacteriology, gram-positive bacteria are bacteria that give a positive result in the Gram stain test, which is traditionally used to quickly classify bacteria into two broad categories according to their type of cell wall. The Gram stain is ...

but can be mistaken for

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

during analysis because they lose their staining easily. They are aerobic to facultatively anaerobic but not acid-fast.

Phylogeny

The currently accepted taxonomy is based on the

List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature (LPSN) is an online database that maintains information on the naming and taxonomy of prokaryotes, following the taxonomy requirements and rulings of the International Code of Nomenclatu ...

(LPSN) and

National Center for Biotechnology Information The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) is part of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), a branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It is approved and funded by the government of the United States. The NCBI is lo ...

(NCBI). Unassigned species: * ''E. amsterdamensis'' Zhong et al. 2024 * "''E. enhydrae''" Chang et al. 2024 * "''E. muris''" Chen et al. 2006

References

External links

''Erysipelothrix'' at Bac''Dive'' - the Bacterial Diversity MetadatabaseErysipelothrix
at MicrobeWiki Mollicutes Bacteria genera {{Firmicutes-stub