Scanning electron micrograph of Actinomyces israelii
Scientific classification
Domain:
Bacteria
Phylum:
Actinomycetota
Class:
Actinomycetia
Order:
Actinomycetales
Family:
Actinomycetaceae
Genus:
Actinomyces Harz 1877 (Approved Lists 1980)[1]
Species
See text.
Synonyms
"Actinobacterium" Sampietro 1908
"Odontomyces" Howell et al. 1965
Actinomyces is a genus of the Actinomycetia class of bacteria. They all are gram-positive and facultatively anaerobic, growing best under anaerobic conditions.[2]Actinomyces species may form endospores, and while individual bacteria are rod-shaped, Actinomyces colonies form fungus-like branched networks of hyphae.[3] The aspect of these colonies initially led to the incorrect assumption that the organism was a fungus and to the name Actinomyces, "ray fungus" (from Greek actis, ray or beam, and mykes, fungus).
Actinomyces species are ubiquitous, occurring in soil and in the microbiota of animals, including the human microbiota. They are known for the important role they play in soil ecology; they produce a number of enzymes that help degrade organic plant material, lignin, and chitin. Thus, their presence is important in the formation of compost. Certain species are commensal in the skin flora, oral flora, gut flora, and vaginal flora[4] of humans and livestock. They are also known for causing diseases in humans and livestock, usually when they opportunistically gain access to the body's interior through wounds. As with other opportunistic infections, people with immunodeficiency are at higher risk. In all of the preceding traits and in their branching filament formation, they bear similarities to Nocardia.[5]
Like various other anaerobes, Actinomyces species are fastidious, thus not easy to culture and isolate. Clinical laboratories do culture and isolate them, but a negative result does not rule out infection, because it may be due simply to reluctance to grow in vitro.
^Harz CO. (1877–1878). "Actinomyces bovis, ein neuer Schimmel in den Geweben des Rindes" [Actinomyces bovis, a new mold from the tissues of cattle]. Deutsche Zeitschrift für Thiermedizin. 5: 125–140.
^Bowden, Geroge [sic] H. W. (1996), Baron, Samuel (ed.), "Actinomyces, Propionibacterium propionicus, and Streptomyces", Medical Microbiology (4th ed.), University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, ISBN 978-0-9631172-1-2, PMID 21413327, retrieved 2020-06-04{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^Holt JG, ed. (1994). Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology (9th ed.). Williams & Wilkins. ISBN 0-683-00603-7.
^Petrova, Mariya I.; Lievens, Elke; Malik, Shweta; Imholz, Nicole; Lebeer, Sarah (2015). "Lactobacillus species as biomarkers and agents that can promote various aspects of vaginal health". Frontiers in Physiology. 6: 81. doi:10.3389/fphys.2015.00081. ISSN 1664-042X. PMC 4373506. PMID 25859220.
^Sullivan, DC; Chapman, SW (2010), "Bacteria that masquerade as fungi: actinomycosis/nocardia", Proc Am Thorac Soc, 7 (3): 216–221, doi:10.1513/pats.200907-077AL, PMID 20463251.
under anaerobic conditions. Actinomyces species may form endospores, and while individual bacteria are rod-shaped, Actinomyces colonies form fungus-like...
Actinomyces israelii is a species of Gram-positive, rod-shaped bacteria within the genus Actinomyces. Known to live commensally on and within humans, A...
known as "Actinomyces naeslundi genospecies 2" were reclassified under the new species name Actinomyces oris. Those formerly known as "Actinomyces naeslundi...
griseus was first described in 1914 by Krainsky, who called the species Actinomyces griseus. The name was changed in 1948 by Waksman and Henrici to Streptomyces...
viscosus infection symptoms are indistinguishable from Actinomyces israelii infection symptoms or Actinomyces bovis infection symptoms. A. israelii and A. bovis...
Actinomyces bovis is a branching, Gram-positive, rod-shaped bacterium of the genus Actinomyces. It is the causative agent of lumpy jaw in cattle, and occasionally...
bacteraemia in very rare cases. Gleimia europaea is formerly known as Actinomyces europaeus. It comes from the domain of gram-positive actinobacteria....
Actinomyces species. The name refers to ray-like appearance of the organisms in the granules. About 70% of infections are due to either Actinomyces israelii...
isolated from a human blood sample and belonging to the genus Actinomyces. The genus name, Actinomyces, borrows from the Greek words "aktinos" and "mykēs" which...
Gil, Y.; Saez-Nieto, J. A. (2010). "Soft Tissue Infections Caused by Actinomyces neuii, a Rare Pathogen". Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 48 (4): 1508–1509...
"Actinomyces actinomycetemcomitans" is a species in the genus Actinomyces. Iinuma M, Okawa Y, Tanaka T, Ho FC, Kobayashi Y, Miyauchi KI. (1994). "Anti-oral...
Actinomyces gerencseriae is a species in the genus Actinomyces once known as Actinomyces israelii serovar II. A. gerencseriae was named for bacteriologist...
Actinomyces radicidentis is a species in the genus Actinomyces, first isolated from infected root canals of teeth. Once characterized, it has since been...
the Actinomycetales. II. The definition and subdivision of the genus Actinomyces, with a preliminary account of Australian soil Actinomycetes". Proceedings...
C; Foster, G; Collins, MD (1997), "Phylogenetic analysis of the genus Actinomyces based on 16S rRNA gene sequences: Description of Arcanobacterium phocae...
trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Variable or pleomorphic in shape and similar to Actinomyces and Nocardia, Rothia was only defined as a genus in 1967. Rothia dentocariosa...
Frodl, Reinhard; Bernard, Kathryn A.; Stenger, Steffen (1 July 2010). "Actinomyces hominis sp. nov., isolated from a wound swab". International Journal...
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