Classification of Common Pathogenic Bacteria
Type | Bacteria |
|---|---|
Obligate aerobic | |
Gram-negative cocci | |
Gram-positive bacilli | Corynebacterium jeikeium |
Acid-fast bacilli | Mycobacterium avium complex, M. kansasii, M. leprae, M. tuberculosis Nocardia species |
Nonfermentative gram-negative bacilli, non-Enterobacterales (formerly Enterobacteriaceae) | Acinetobacter calcoaceticus Elizabethkingia meningoseptica (formerly Flavobacterium meningosepticum) Pseudomonas aeruginosa,* P. alcaligenes, other Pseudomonas species Stenotrophomonas maltophilia |
Fastidious gram-negative coccobacilli and bacilli | Brucella species Bordetella species Francisella species Legionella species |
Leptospiraceae (spiral bacteria) | Leptospira species |
Obligate anaerobic | |
Bacteroides fragilis, other Bacteroides species Fusobacterium species Prevotella species | |
Gram-negative cocci | Veillonella species |
Gram-positive cocci | Peptococcus niger Peptostreptococcus species |
Non–spore-forming gram-positive bacilli | Actinomyces species Bifidobacterium species Eubacterium species Cutibacterium (formerly Propionibacterium) species |
Endospore-forming gram-positive bacilli | Clostridium botulinum, C. perfringens, C. tetani, other Clostridium species |
Facultative anaerobic | |
Gram-positive cocci, catalase-positive | Staphylococcus aureus (coagulase-positive), S. epidermidis (coagulase-negative), other coagulase-negative staphylococci |
Gram-positive cocci, catalase-negative | Enterococcus faecalis, E. faecium Streptococcus agalactiae (group B streptococcus), S. bovis, S. pneumoniae, S. pyogenes (group A streptococcus), viridans group streptococci (S. mutans, S. mitis, S. salivarius, S. sanguis), S. anginosus group (S. anginosus, S. milleri, S. constellatus) Gemella morbillorum |
Gram-positive bacilli | Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae Gardnerella vaginalis (gram-variable) |
Enterobacterales (Citrobacter species, Enterobacter species, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella species, Morganella morganii, Proteus species, Plesiomonas shigelloides, Providencia rettgeri, Salmonella typhi, other Salmonella species, Serratia marcescens, Shigella species, Yersinia enterocolitica, Y. pestis) | |
Fermentative, non-Enterobacterales | Aeromonas hydrophila Chromobacterium violaceum Pasteurella multocida |
Fastidious gram-negative coccobacilli and bacilli | Aggregatibacter (formerly Actinobacillus) actinomycetemcomitans Eikenella corrodens Haemophilus influenzae, other Haemophilus species |
Microaerophilic | |
Curved bacilli | Campylobacter jejuni Vibrio cholerae, V. vulnificus |
Spirochaetaceae (spiral bacteria) | |
Obligate intracellular parasitic | |
Chlamydiaceae | Chlamydia trachomatis, C. psittaci, Chlamydophila pneumoniae |
Coxiellaceae | |
Rickettsia prowazekii, R. rickettsii, R. typhi Anaplasma phagocytophilum | |
* Although usually considered obligate aerobes, these bacteria are able to grow in the absence of oxygen by using nitrite as an alternative electron acceptor. | |