Micrococcus

Micrococcus
Micrococcus mucilaginosis
Scientific classification
Domain:	Bacteria
Phylum:	Actinomycetota
Class:	Actinomycetia
Order:	Micrococcales
Family:	Micrococcaceae
Genus:	Micrococcus Cohn 1872
Type species
Micrococcus luteus (Schroeter 1872) Cohn 1872 (Approved Lists 1980)
Species
M. aloeverae Prakash et al. 2014 M. antarcticus Liu et al. 2000 M. cohnii Rieser et al. 2013 M. endophyticus Chen et al. 2009 M. flavus Liu et al. 2007 M. luteus (Schroeter 1872) Cohn 1872 (Approved Lists 1980) M. lylae Kloos et al. 1974 (Approved Lists 1980) M. terreus Zhang et al. 2010 M. yunnanensis Zhao et al. 2009

Micrococcus (mi’ krō kŏk’ Əs) is a genus of bacteria in the Micrococcaceae family. Micrococcus occurs in a wide range of environments, including water, dust, and soil. Micrococci have Gram-positive spherical cells ranging from about 0.5 to 3 micrometers in diameter and typically appear in tetrads. They are catalase positive, oxidase positive, indole negative and citrate negative. Micrococcus has a substantial cell wall, which may comprise as much as 50% of the cell mass. The genome of Micrococcus is rich in guanine and cytosine (GC), typically exhibiting 65 to 75% GC-content. Micrococci often carry plasmids (ranging from 1 to 100 MDa in size) that provide the organism with useful traits.

Some species of Micrococcus, such as M. luteus (yellow) and M. roseus (red) produce yellow or pink colonies when grown on mannitol salt agar. Isolates of M. luteus have been found to overproduce riboflavin when grown on toxic organic pollutants like pyridine.

Taxonomy

Hybridization studies from 1995 indicate that species within the genus Micrococcus are not closely related, showing as little as 50% sequence similarity. This suggests that some Micrococcus species may, on the basis of ribosomal RNA analysis, eventually be re-classified into other microbial genera.

The following species have been reclassified since then:

• "M. amylovorus" was reclassified as Erwinia amylovora.
• "M. calcoaceticus" was reclassified as Acinetobacter calcoaceticus.
• "M. candicans" was not included in the Approved Lists.
• "M. cinereus" was reclassified as Neisseria cinerea.
• "M. agilis" was reclassified as Arthrobacter agilis.
• "M. cryophilus" was not included in the Approved Lists.
• "M. denitrificans" was reclassified as Paracoccus denitrificans
• "M. diversus" was not included in the Approved Lists.
• "M. fulvus" was reclassified as Myxococcus fulvus.
• "M. gallicidus" was reclassified as Pasteurella multocida.
• "M. glutamicus" was reclassified as Corynebacterium glutamicum.
• "M. halobius" was reclassified as Nesterenkonia halobia.
• "M. halodenitrificans" was reclassified as Halomonas halodenitrificans.
• "M. hyicus" was reclassified as Staphylococcus hyicus.
• "M. indolicus" was reclassified as Peptoniphilus indolicus.
• "M. kristinae" was reclassified as Rothia kristinae.
• "M. lactis" was reclassified as Neomicrococcus lactis.
• "M. meningitidis" was reclassified as Neisseria meningitidis.
• "M. mucilaginosus" was reclassified as Rothia mucilaginosa.
• "M. niger" was reclassified as Peptococcus niger.
• "M. nishinomiyaensis" was reclassified as Dermacoccus nishinomiyaensis.
• "M. nitrosus" was reclassified as Nitrosococcus nitrosus.
• "M. pelletieri" was reclassified as Actinomadura pelletieri.
• "M. phosphoreus" was reclassified as Photobacterium phosphoreum.
• "M. pneumoniae" was reclassified as Streptococcus pneumoniae.
• "M. prevotii" Foubert and Douglas 1948 was reclassified as Anaerococcus prevotii.
• "M. prodigiosus" was not included in the Approved Lists.
• "M. radiodurans" was not included in the Approved Lists.
• "M. radioproteolyticus" was not included in the Approved Lists.
• "M. roseus" was reclassified as Kocuria rosea.
• "M. saccharolyticus" was reclassified as Staphylococcus saccharolyticus.
• "M. sedentarius was reclassified as Kytococcus sedentarius.
• "M. sodonensis" was not included in the Approved Lists.
• "M. subflavus" was reclassified as Neisseria subflava.
• "M. varians" was reclassified as Kocuria varians

In addition, GTDB (revision 214) indicates that Micrococcus terreus likely belongs in Citricoccus.

Environmental

Micrococci have been isolated from human skin, animal and dairy products, and beer. They are found in many other places in the environment, including water, dust, and soil. M. luteus on human skin transforms compounds in sweat into compounds with an unpleasant odor. Micrococci can grow well in environments with little water or high salt concentrations, including sportswear made with synthetic fabrics. Most are mesophiles; some, like Micrococcus antarcticus (found in Antarctica) are psychrophiles.

Though not a spore former, Micrococcus cells can survive for an extended period of time, both at refrigeration temperatures, and in nutrient-poor conditions such as sealed in amber.

Pathogenesis

Micrococcus is generally thought to be a saprotrophic or commensal organism, though it can be an opportunistic pathogen, particularly in hosts with compromised immune systems, such as HIV patients. It can be difficult to identify Micrococcus as the cause of an infection, since the organism is normally present in skin microflora, and the genus is seldom linked to disease. In rare cases, death of immunocompromised patients has occurred from pulmonary infections caused by Micrococcus. Micrococci may be involved in other infections, including recurrent bacteremia, septic shock, septic arthritis, endocarditis, meningitis, and cavitating pneumonia (immunosuppressed patients).

Industrial uses

Micrococci, like many other representatives of the Actinobacteria, can be catabolically versatile, with the ability to utilize a wide range of unusual substrates, such as pyridine, herbicides, chlorinated biphenyls, and oil. They are likely involved in detoxification or biodegradation of many other environmental pollutants. Other Micrococcus isolates produce various useful products, such as long-chain (C21-C34) aliphatic hydrocarbons for lubricating oils.

External links

• Microbewiki at Kenyon College