Corynebacterium Flashcards
Habitat
Mucous membranes, skin
Milk
Soil (saprophytes), surface of plants
Morphology
- Polymorphism, pleomorphism; middle sized rods, coccoid rods, slender rods, round rods, curved rods, coryneform
- Single, palisade, Chinese letters
- Metachromatic granules (granules in rods)
- Arrangement: single or attached, paralelly like palisade in leafs or similar to chinese letters
Staining
Gram-positive
Sometimes not uniform staining
Slightly acid fast
Metachromatic granules
Culture
Fastidious - blood agar
Weak growth on nutrient agar
Haemolysis (sometimes with delay)
Different colony morphology
Biochemistry
Catalase +, oxidase -, fermentative
Toxin production: C. diphtheriae (bacteriophage encodes, so if infected), C. pseudotuberculosis
Antigens
Complex
Resistance
Average
Pathogenicity
- Local suppuration; lymphadenitis, lymphanginitis
- Arthritis
- Metritis
- Mastitis
Species; C. diphtheriae
- Strains infected with temperate phage: activates toxin production, diphthery, vaccination
- Strains not infected: pharyngitis, endocarditis
Species; C. pseudotuberculosis
- Polymorphism, fimbria
- Hemolysis
- Virulence factors: exotoxin - phospholipase D, lipoids in the cell wall -> both responsible for disease
Species; C. pseudotuberculosis -> nitrate negative biotype
Sheep, goat (small Ru): pseudotuberculosis (caseous lymphadenitis), abortion arthritis
Species; C. pseudotuberculosis -> nitrate positive biotype
Horse: equine ulcerative lymphanginitis (lymph vessels inflamed)
Species; C. renale
Fimbria
Cattle (horse,swine): pyelonephritis, cystitis
Species; C. pilosum
Cattle cystitis, pyelonephritis
Species; C. cystiditis
Cattle haemorrhagic cystitis
