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Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Veterinary bacteriology: information about important bacteria
Veterinary bacteriology


Species/Subspecies: Listeria innocua
Category: Motile
Etymology: Genus name: named after the British surgeon Lord Lister.
Species epithet: harmless.
Significance:Can be found as a contaminant of food, but can easily be differentiated from L. monocytogenes by cultivation on OCLA-agar. See L. monocytogenes.
  [Of minor importance]   
Taxonomy:
Phylum
Bacillota
Class
Bacilli
Order
Bacillales
Family
Listeriaceae 
Genus
Listeria
Type Strain: ATCC 33090 = CCUG 15531 = NCTC 11288.
Macromorphology (smell): No hemolysis on blood agar.
Micromorphology: Motile rod (0.4-0.5 x 1-2 µm). Has a few peritrichous flagella.
Gram +/Gram -:G+
Metabolism: Facultatively anaerobic.
Catalase/Oxidase:+/-
Other Enzymes: Esculinase +, lecithinase -, hippuricase +, tryptophanase - and urease -.
Biochemical Tests: Methyl red +, Voges-Proskauer +.
Fermentation of carbohydrates:
D-glucose
+
lactose
+
maltose
?
L-rhamnose
v
sucrose
+
L-arabinose
-
cellobiose
?
D-mannitol
-
salicin
?
trehalose
+
glycerol
+
inulin
?
raffinose
?
D-sorbitol
-
starch
-
Other carbohydrates: Galactose -, ribose -, D-xylitol +, D-xylose -.
Spec. Char.:
Special Media:
Reservoir: The environment (soil, water etc.).
Genome Sequence:
Acc-noStrainSize (bp)Genome
NC_003212 Clip11262 3 011 208 1c + 1c 

16S rRNA Seq.:
Acc-noStrainNumber of NTOperonSequence similarity
X98527 ATCC33090T 1 404 99,8 - 100% 

Taxonomy/phylogeny:
Listeria innocua  
There are 21 species and subspecies described within the genus and all are very similar. L. innocua and L. monocytogenes have almost identical 16S rRNA sequences.
Updated:2023-03-08

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