''Listeria grayi'' is a species of bacteria. It is a
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.
Gram-positive bacte ...
, facultatively anaerobic, motile, non-
spore
In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, f ...
-forming bacillus. It is non-hemolytic. The species was first proposed in 1966. It is named after M.L. Gray, an early researcher in ''
L. monocytogenes''
There are two subspecies of ''L. grayi'': ''L. gray'' subs. ''grayi'', and ''L. grayi'' subsp. ''murrayi''.
''Listeria murrayi'' (named after a co-founder of ''
L. monocytogenes'') was originally a separate species of ''Listeria'' when proposed in 1971. However, there was controversy over whether ''L. grayi'' and ''L. murrayi'' were the same species, or belonged in genus ''Listeria'' altogether. In 1974, researchers suggested that a new genus be created for the two species, called, ''Murraya'', although furthers studies by other researchers in 1987 proposed that the two species remain in ''Listeria''.
In 1996, further studies showed that ''L. murrayi'' was a subspecies of ''L. grayi''.
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References
External links
Type strain of ''Listeria grayi'' at Bac''Dive'' - the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase
grayi
Bacteria described in 1966
{{Bacilli-stub