Gardnerella

Taxobox
color = lightgrey
name = "Gardnerella"
regnum = Bacteria
phylum = Actinobacteria
ordo = Bifidobacteriales
familia = Bifidobacteriaceae
genus = "Gardnerella"
species = "G. vaginalis"
binomial = "Gardnerella vaginalis"
binomial_authority = (Gardner and Dukes 1955) Greenwood and Pickett 1980

"Gardnerella" is a genus of gram-variable bacteria of which "Gardnerella vaginalis" is the only species. "Gardnerella vaginalis" can cause bacterial vaginosis in some women.

Once classified as a species of "Haemophilus", "G. vaginalis" grows as small, circular, convex, gray colonies on chocolate agar; it will also grow on HBT agar. A selective medium for "G. vaginalis" is colistin-oxolinic acid blood agar.

While typically isolated in genital cultures, it may also be detected from other sources, such as blood, urine and pharynx. Although a chief cause of bacterial vaginosis, it may be isolated from women without any signs or symptoms of infection.

Under the microscope it appears as a gram-negative rod, although it has been reported to have a gram-positive cell wall. It is associated microscopically with clue cells, which are epithelial cells covered in bacteria. "G. vaginalis" produces a pore-forming toxin, [http://jb.asm.org/cgi/content/abstract/190/11/3896 vaginolysin] , which affects only human cells.

Infections with "G. vaginalis" go along with proteolysis, giving nitrous products such as cadaverines and putrescines, which can cause a bad smell and loss of water. One method of treatment is metronidazole.