''Enterococcus raffinosus'' is a bacterial species of the
Gram-positive genus ''
Enterococcus'', named for its facultative anaerobic metabolism, including the ability to ferment the trisaccharide
raffinose.
This mesophilic microaerophile has optimal growth at 37°C in Columbia Blood Medium (agar mixture of
trypticase soy and
brain heart infusion).
It has an ovoid morphology categorized as
coccal with arrangement singly, in pairs, or short chains.
According to
analytical profile index results, this non-motile microbe is negative for
urease and
catalase
Catalase is a common enzyme found in nearly all living organisms exposed to oxygen (such as bacteria, plants, and animals) which catalyzes the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen. It is a very important enzyme in protecting t ...
but positive for
Voges–Proskauer and
pyrrolidonyl arylamidase. It hydrolyzes
aesculin but not
hippuric acid
Hippuric acid ( Gr. ''hippos'', horse, ''ouron'', urine) is a carboxylic acid and organic compound. It is found in urine and is formed from the combination of benzoic acid and glycine. Levels of hippuric acid rise with the consumption of phenoli ...
or
starch
Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human diets ...
. It lacks
arginine deiminase
In enzymology, an arginine deiminase () is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction
:L-arginine + H2O \rightleftharpoons L-citrulline + NH3
Thus, the two substrates of this enzyme are L-arginine and H2O, whereas its two products are L ...
,
β-galactosidase,
β-glucuronidase
Beta-glucuronidases are members of the glycosidase family of enzymes that catalyze breakdown of complex carbohydrates. Human β-glucuronidase is a type of glucuronidase (a member of glycosidase Family 2) that catalyzes hydrolysis of β-D-glucur ...
, and
alkaline phosphatase
The enzyme alkaline phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.1, alkaline phosphomonoesterase; phosphomonoesterase; glycerophosphatase; alkaline phosphohydrolase; alkaline phenyl phosphatase; orthophosphoric-monoester phosphohydrolase (alkaline optimum), systematic ...
.
''Enterococcus raffinosus'' has been identified as a pathogen in ''
Homo sapiens'' and ''
Felis catus'' with
vancomycin-resistant strains (VRE) involved in
hospital-acquired infections
A hospital-acquired infection, also known as a nosocomial infection (from the Greek , meaning "hospital"), is an infection that is acquired in a hospital or other health care facility. To emphasize both hospital and nonhospital settings, it is ...
that cause Crohn's disease.
Additionally, this species uses ''
Camelus dromedarius'' and ''
Helix pomatia
''Helix pomatia'', common names the Roman snail, Burgundy snail, or escargot, is a species of large, edible, air-breathing land snail, a pulmonate gastropod terrestrial mollusc in the family Helicidae.MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. ...
'' as hosts.
Sequencing of the CX012922 strain show genes divided between a 2.83 Mb circular genome for virulence factors like
ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters and a 0.98 Mb circular megaplasmid for substrate utilization enzymes like raffinose permease.
References
Further reading
*Epidemiology of Enterococcus:
*
*
External links
*
LPSNType strain of ''Enterococcus raffinosus'' at Bac''Dive'' - the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase
{{Taxonbar, from=Q17119101
raffinosus
Bacteria described in 1989