Yersinia

Taxobox
color = lightgrey
name = "Yersinia"
regnum = Bacteria
phylum = Proteobacteria
classis = Gamma Proteobacteria
ordo = Enterobacteriales
familia = Enterobacteriaceae
genus = "Yersinia"
genus_authority = van Loghem, 1944
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = "Y. pestis"
"Y. enterocolitica"
"Y. pseudotuberculosis"
etc.

"Yersinia" is a genus of bacteria in the family Enterobacteriaceae. "Yersinia" are Gram-negative rod shaped bacteria, a few micrometers long and fractions of a micrometer in diameter, and are facultative anaerobes.cite book | author = Ryan KJ; Ray CG (editors) | title = Sherris Medical Microbiology | edition = 4th ed. | publisher = McGraw Hill | year = 2004 | pages= pp. 368–70| id = ISBN 0838585299 ] Some members of "Yersinia" are pathogenic in humans. Rodents are the natural reservoirs of "Yersinia"; less frequently other mammals serve as the host. Infection may occur either through blood (in the case of "Y. pestis") or in an alimentary fashion, through occasionally via consumption of food products (especially vegetables, milk-derived products and meat) contaminated with infected urine or feces.

Speculations exist as to whether or not certain "Yersinia" can also be spread via protozoonotic mechanisms, since "Yersinia" are known to be facultative intracellular parasites; studies and discussions of the possibility of amoeba-vectored (through the cyst form of the protozoan) Yersinia propagation and proliferation are now in progress.Fact|date=February 2007

Microbial physiology

An interesting feature peculiar to some of the "Yersinia" bacteria is the ability not only to survive, but also to proliferate at temperatures as low as 1-4 degrees Celsius (e.g., on cut salads and other food products in a refrigerator). "Yersinia" representatives also reveal relatively high heat resistance, some of them being able to survive 50-60 degrees Celsius temperature for up to 20-30 minutes and (arguably, might be due to misreading of information like the first external link below) surviving standard pasteurization process (15 seconds at 72 degrees Celsius) in milk.disputed-inline|date=June 2008 "Yersinia" bacteria are relatively quickly inactivated by oxidizing agents such as hydrogen peroxide and potassium permanganate solutions.

Pathogenesis

The disease caused by "Y. enterocolitica" is called Yersiniosis.Another pathogen is "Y. pseudotuberculosis", which is the least common species of "Yersinia" causing disease in humans. Yersinia is implicated as one of the pathogenic causes of Reactive Arthritis worldwide.

History

The genus is named for A.E.J. Yersin, a Swiss bacteriologist, who discovered the "Yersinia pestis" bacterium—the causative agent of the bubonic plague. The special genus "Yersinia" has been recognized since 1971, mainly for taxonomic reasons.Fact|date=February 2007

References

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/697469.stm BBC News: Bacteria survives milk processing]
* [http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/104/3/e36 Yersinia Enterocolitis Mimicking Crohn's Disease in a Toddler]
* [http://www.thelocal.se/article.php?ID=2810&date=20060107 Sweden: Pork warnings over new stomach illness]
*Genomic information on "Yersinia" is available at [http://www.ericbrc.org ERIC]