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Phylum	Class	Order	Family	Genus	Species/Subspecies

Species/Subspecies:

Fusobacterium necrophorum subsp. necrophorum

Category:

Causes hemolysis

Etymology:

Genus name: small spindle shaped rod.
Species epithet: necrosis producing.
Subspecies epithet: see Species epithet.

Significance:

[Very important]

Alternative Species Name(s):

Bacteroides necrophorus, Fusobacterium necrophorum (Biotyp A)

Taxonomy:

Phylum
Fusobacteriota

Class
Fusobacteriia

Order
Fusobacteriales

Family
Fusobacteriaceae

Genus
Fusobacterium

Type Strain:

VPI 2891 = ATCC 25286 = CCUG 9994.

Macromorphology (smell):

Small cream-colored metal shiny colonies. There are both strains that produce and not produce an hemolysis zone on blood agar. Smells like rancid butter (or boiled cabbage). Colonies fluoresce in neon green under long-wave UV-light.

Micromorphology:

Coccoid rods to thin, needle-shaped filaments. Non-motile.

G-

Strictly anaerobic

-/-

Esculinase -, lipase -, Tryptophanase + (= indole +).

Fermentation of carbohydrates:

Butyric acid is produced by fermentation.

Spec. Char.:

Temperature optimum: 37°C.

Disease:

Hosts	Disease	Clinical picture
Cattle and sheep	Interdigital dermatitis	Lame, fever, swollen hoof and sometimes also feedlock, sore, tender and foul-smelling hoof Often mixed infection with other anaerobic bacteria or T. pyogenes
Cattle (Affect mostly calves)	Oral necrobacillosis Calf diphtheria	Necrotic stomatitis, swollen ckeeks, damaged oral mucosa, can also affect the tongue, fever, anorexia and foul smell Necrotic pharyngitis and laryngitis, difficulty to swallow, fever, salivation, respiratory distress, coughing and foul smell Most often caused by sticky roughage or tooth loss
Cattle	Liver abscesses	Reduced weight gain, mostly diagnosed at slaughter, often secondary to rumenitis. Occasionally, rupture of abscess and perforation to vena cava could lead to infection of other organs and death
Cattle	Metritis	Infection in uterus post-partum. Varies from inapparent infection to purulent exudate, often in association with T. pyogenes

Virulence Factors:

Produces a leucotoxin directed against neutrophils and has LPS.

Genome Sequence:

Acc-no	Strain	Size (bp)	Genome
Not reported

16S rRNA Seq.:

Acc-no	Strain	Number of NT	Operon
AJ867039	ATCC 25286	1455

Taxonomy/phylogeny:

Within the genus Fusobacteria, 14 species have been described and 2 of these are divided into 7 sub-species. Fusobacteria are related to genus Streptobacillus, but the latter belongs to another family, namely Leptotrichiaceae.

Comment:

Can convert lactic acid to propionic acid.

Reference(s):

No. 24

Updated:

2023-10-19

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