Francisella

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iFrancisella

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Bacteria
Phylum:	Proteobacteria
Class:	Gamma Proteobacteria
Order:	Thiotrichales
Family:	Francisellaceae
Genus:	Francisella Dorofe'ev 1947

Species

F. novicida
F. philomiragia
F. tularensis

Francisella is a genus of pathogenic, Gram-negative bacteria. They are small coccobacillary or rod-shaped, non-motile organisms, which are also facultative intracellular parasites of macrophages.^[1] Strict aerobes, Francisella colonies bear a morphological resemblance to those of the genus Brucella.^[2] The genus was named in honor of American bacteriologist Edward Francis, who, in 1922, first recognized F. tularensis (then named Bacterium tularensis) as the causative agent of tularemia.^[3]

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) supports a public database describing the molecular genetics of F. tularensis at http://www.biohealthbase.org. The effort is part of the Bioinformatics Resource Centers for Biodefense and Emerging/Re-emerging Infectious Diseases (BRC) program managed by the Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases of NIAID. The website describes the genes, proteins, and cellular characteristics of the pathogen.

1 Pathogenesis
2 Laboratory chracteristics
3 References
4 Web Links

[edit] Pathogenesis

The type species, F. tularensis, causes the disease tularemia or rabbit fever.^[4] F. novicida and F. philomiragia (previously Yersinia philomiragia) are associated with septicemia and invasive systemic infections. It should be noted that the taxonomy of the genus is somewhat uncertain, especially in the case of F. novicida (may be a subspecies of F. tularensis). In general, identification of species is accomplished by biochemical profiling or 16S rRNA sequencing.

[edit] Laboratory chracteristics

While Francisella organisms can survive for several weeks in the environment, they can be difficult to culture and maintain in the lab. Growth is slow (though increased by CO₂ supplementation) and the organisms are fastidious, with most Francisella strains requiring cystine and cysteine media supplementation for growth. Growth has been successful on several media types, including chocolate agar and Thayer-Martin medias with appropriate additives as noted above. Attempted isolation on MacConkey agar is not reliable or generally successful.^[4]

After 24 hours of incubation on appropriate solid media, Francisella colonies are generally small (1 - 2 mm), opaque, and white-gray to bluish-gray in color. Colonies are smooth, with clean edges and, after a 48 hours of growth, tend to have a shiny surface.

[edit] References

^ Allen LA (2003). "Mechanisms of pathogenesis: evasion of killing by polymorphonuclear leukocytes". Microbes Infect 5 (14): 1329–35. PMID 14613776.
^ Ryan KJ; Ray CG (editors) (2004). Sherris Medical Microbiology, 4th ed., McGraw Hill. ISBN 0-8385-8529-9.
^ Francis E (1921). "Tularemia. I. The occurrence of tularemia in nature as a disease of man.". Public Health Rep (36): 1731–53.
^ ^a ^b Collins FM (1996). Pasteurella, Yersinia, and Francisella. In: Barron's Medical Microbiology (Barron S et al, eds.), 4th ed., Univ of Texas Medical Branch. (via NCBI Bookshelf) ISBN 0-9631172-1-1.