Aerococcus
Genus of bacteria
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aerococcus, from Ancient Greek ἀήρ (aḗr), meaning "air", and κόκκος (kókkos), meaning "grain", is a genus of bacterium in the phylum Bacillota (Bacteria).[1] The genus was first identified in 1953 from samples of air and dust as a catalase-negative, gram-positive coccus that grew in small clusters.[2] They were subsequently found in hospital environments and meat-curing brines.[3] It has been difficult to identify as it resembles alpha-hemolytic Streptococcus on blood agar plates and is difficult to identify by biochemical means.[4] Sequencing of 16S rRNA has become the gold standard for identification, but other techniques such as MALDI-TOF have also been useful for identifying both the genus and species.[4]
| Aerococcus | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Bacteria |
| Kingdom: | Bacillati |
| Phylum: | Bacillota |
| Class: | Bacilli |
| Order: | Lactobacillales |
| Family: | Aerococcaceae |
| Genus: | Aerococcus Williams et al., 1953 |
| Type species | |
| A. viridans Williams et al., 1953 | |
Etymology
The name Aerococcus derives from Ancient Greek ἀήρ (aḗr), meaning "air", and κόκκος (kókkos), meaning "grain".[5] The name was given based on its round shape and that it was first discovered in air samples.[2]
Species
The genus contains these species:[6]
- A. agrisoli Sun et al., 2023 (from Latin *ager* “field, farm” + *solum* “soil,” “of farmland soil”)[7]
- A. christensenii Collins et al., 1999, named after Danish microbiologist Jens J. Christensen[8]
- A. kribbianus Bai et al., 2024 (honours KRIBB, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience & Biotechnology)[9]
- A. loyolae Choi et al., 2023 (from Latin gen. *loyolae*, “of Loyola,” referring to Loyola University Chicago, site of isolation)[10]
- A. mictus Choi et al., 2023 (Latin gen. *mictus*, “of urinating,” from human urine, first source)[10]
- A. sanguinicola Lawson et al., 2001 (from the Latin for “blood-dweller”)[11]
- A. suis Vela et al., 2007 (Latin “of a hog”)[12]
- A. tenax Choi et al., 2023 (Latin masc. adj. *tenax*, “tenacious,” referring to strong biofilm behaviour)[10]
- A. urinae Aguirre & Collins, 1992 (Latin “of urine”)[13]
- A. urinaeequi (Garvie 1988) Felis et al., 2005 (Latin “of horse urine”)[14]
- A. urinaehominis Lawson et al., 2001 (Latin “of human urine”)[15]
- A. vaginalis Tohno et al., 2014 (Latin *vaginalis*, “pertaining to the vagina”)[16]
- A. viridans Williams et al., 1953—type species (Latin “making green”); causative agent of gaffkaemia in lobsters.[17][18]
