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Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Veterinary bacteriology: information about important bacteria
Veterinary bacteriology


Species/Subspecies: Leptospira kirschneri
Categories: Zoonotic; motile; notifiable diseases and bacteria
Etymology: Genus name: thin helix (coil).
Species epithet: named after L. Kirschner,
Significance:Leptospirosis is said to be the most wide spread zoonotic infection in Nature.
  [Important]   
Taxonomy:
Phylum
Spirochaetota
Class
Spirochaetia
Order
Leptospirales
Family
Leptospiraceae 
Genus
Leptospira
Type Strain: Serovar Cynopteri, strain 3522C = ATCC 49945.
Macromorphology (smell):
Micromorphology: "Sewing thread thin" (0.1 x 6-12 µm), helical and with a hook on each end. Motile and has two periplasmatic flagella.
Gram +/Gram -:G-
Metabolism: Aerobic
Catalase/Oxidase:+/+
Fermentation of carbohydrates: Does not ferment karbohydrates.
Spec. Char.: Generation time: 6-8 h.
Special Media:
Disease:Leptospirosis, which is a zoonosis.
Hosts: Humans etc.
Clinical Picture:
16S rRNA Seq.:
Acc-noStrainNumber of NTOperon
AY631895 ATCC 49945T 1 464  

Taxonomy/phylogeny:
Leptospira kirschneri  
About 25 different species have been described within the genus Leptispira. L. kirschneri is closely related to L. interrogans. See the phylogenetic tree (Fig. 115:1).
Legislation: Leptospirosis is notifyable in Sweden.
Comment:There are different serovars and from a clinical point of view, the serovar is more important than the species as pathogenicity is associated with serovar, rather than species and different species may belong to the same serovar.
Reference(s): No. 109
Link: The Leptospirosis Information Center
Updated:2023-03-08

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