''Yersinia'' is a
genus of
bacteria in the family
Yersiniaceae. ''Yersinia'' species are
Gram-negative,
coccobacilli
A coccobacillus (plural coccobacilli), or bacilluscocco, is a type of bacterium with a shape intermediate between cocci (spherical bacteria) and bacilli (rod-shaped bacteria). Coccobacilli, then, are very short rods which may be mistaken for cocci ...
bacteria, a few micrometers long and fractions of a micrometer in diameter, and are
facultative anaerobes.
Some members of ''Yersinia'' are pathogenic in humans; in particular, ''
Y. pestis'' is the causative agent of the
plague.
Rodents are the natural reservoirs of ''Yersinia''; less frequently, other
mammals serve as the
host. Infection may occur either through blood (in the case of ''Y. pestis'') or in an
alimentary fashion, occasionally via consumption of food products (especially vegetables, milk-derived products, and meat) contaminated with infected
urine or
feces
Feces ( or faeces), known colloquially and in slang as poo and poop, are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. Feces contain a relati ...
.
Speculations exist as to whether or not certain ''Yersinia'' can also be spread by
protozoonotic mechanisms, since ''Yersinia'' species are known to be facultative intracellular
parasites; studies and discussions of the possibility of
amoeba-vectored (through the cyst form of the protozoan) ''Yersinia'' propagation and proliferation are now in progress.
Microbial physiology
An interesting feature peculiar to some of the ''Yersinia'' bacteria is the ability to not only survive, but also to actively proliferate at temperatures as low as 1–4 °C (e.g., on cut salads and other food products in a refrigerator). ''Yersinia'' bacteria are relatively quickly inactivated by
oxidizing agents such as
hydrogen peroxide and
potassium permanganate solutions.
Genetics
Database
The creation of YersiniaBase, a data and tools collection for the reporting and comparison of ''Yersinia'' species genome sequence data, was reported in January 2015.
The provisional representation of species addressed by the resource has been indicated in the TaxBox on this page by a superscript 'yb' beside the species name.
Development of YersiniaBase was funded by the
University of Malaya and the
Ministry of Education, Malaysia.
[
]
Pathogenesis
''Y. pestis'' is the causative agent of
plague. The disease caused by ''
Y. enterocolitica'' is called
yersiniosis
Yersiniosis is an infectious disease caused by a bacterium of the genus ''Yersinia''. In the United States, most yersiniosis infections among humans are caused by ''Yersinia enterocolitica''.
Infection with '' Y. enterocolitica'' occurs most o ...
.
''Yersinia'' may be associated with
Crohn's disease
Crohn's disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that may affect any segment of the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms often include abdominal pain, diarrhea (which may be bloody if inflammation is severe), fever, abdominal distension ...
, an inflammatory autoimmune condition of the gut. Iranian sufferers of Crohn's disease were more likely to have had earlier exposure to refrigerators at home,
consistent with its unusual ability to thrive at low temperatures.
''Yersinia'' is implicated as one of the causes of
reactive arthritis worldwide.
Also, the genus is associated with
pseudoappendicitis
Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these typical symptoms. Severe complications of a rupt ...
, which is an incorrect diagnosis of appendicitis due to a similar presentation.
History
''Y. pestis'', the first known species, was identified in 1894
by
A.E.J. Yersin, a Swiss
bacteriologist, and
Kitasato Shibasaburō, a Japanese bacteriologist.
It was formerly described as ''
Pasteurella pestis'' (known
trivially as the plague-bacillus) by Lehmann and Neumann in 1896.
[ Following the introduction of the bacteriological code, it was accepted as valid in 1980.][
]
References
External links
''Yersinia'' Enterocolitis Mimicking Crohn's Disease in a ToddlerSweden: Pork warnings over new stomach illness
''Yersinia''
genomes and related information a
PATRIC
a Bioinformatics Resource Center funded b
NIAID
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q132231
Bacteria genera