Cross Index	Legionella
SuperSet	Prokaryote, Eubacteria Gram-Negative Aerobic/ Microaerophilic Rods and Cocci
Compare	Acetobacter, Acidiphilium, Acidomonas methanolica, Acidothermus cellulolyticus, Acidovorax, Acinetobacter, Afipia, Agrobacterium, Agromonas oligotrophica, Alcaligenes, Alteromonas, Aminobacter, Aquaspirillum, Azomonas, Azorhizobium caulinodans, Azotobacter, Bacteroides, Beijerinckia, Bordetella, Bradyrhizobium japonicum, Brucella, Chromohalobacter marismortui, Chryseomonas luteola, Comamonas, Cupriavidus necator, Deleya, Derxia gummosa, Ensifer adherans, Erythrobacter longus, Flavimonas oryzihabitans, Flavobacterium, Francisella, Frateuria aurantica, Gluconobacter, Halomonas, Hydrogenophaga, Janthinobacterium lividum, Kingella, Lampropedia hyalina, Legionella, Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus, Marinomonas, Mesophilobacter marinus, Methylobacillus glycogenes, Methylobacterium, Methylococcus, Methylomonas, Methylophaga, Methylophilus, Methylovorus glucosotrophus, Moraxella, Morococcus cerebrosus, Neisseriaceae, Neisseria, Oceanospirillum, Ochrobactrum anthropi, Oligella, Paracoccus, Phenylobacterium immobile, Phyllobacterium, Pseudomonas, Psychrobacter immobilis, Rhizobacter daucus, Rhizobium, Rhizomonas suberifaciens, Rochalimaea, Roseobacter, Rugomonas rubra, Serpens, Sinorhizobium, Sphingobacterium, Taylorella equigenitalis, Thermoleophilum, Thermomicrobium, Thermus, Variovorax paradoxus, Volcaniella eurhalina, Weeksella, Wolinella, Xanthobacter, Xanthomonas, Xyella fastidiosa, Xylophilus ampelinus, Zoogloea ramigera
Contrast	Archaea
Subset	Over 30 different species have now been isolated

 

Morphology

Legionella

CELLULAR

Staining	Gram-negative Not acid-fast..
Morphology	Rods 0.3-0.9 um in width and 2-20 um or more in length.Not encapsulated.
Motility	Motile by one, two or more straight or curved polar or lateral flagella; nonmotile strains are occasionally seen.
Specialized structures	no resting stages

Division

COLONIAL

Solid surface

Liquid

 

Growth Parameters

Legionella

PHYSIOLOGICAL

Tropism	Chemoorganotrophic, using amino acids as carbon and energy sources. Carbohydrates are neither fermented nor oxidized.
Oxygen	Aerobic.
pH
Temperature
Requirements	-cysteine-HCI and iron salts are required for growth
Products
Enzymes	The oxidase test is negative or weakly positive. Nitrates are not reduced. Urease-negative. Gelatin is liquefied
Unique features	Branched chain fatty acids predominate in the cell wall.

ENVIRONMENTAL

Habitat	Isolated from surface water, mud, and from thermally polluted lakes and streams. There is no known soil or animal source.
Lifestyle
Pathogenicity	Pathogenic for man causes a pneumonia known as Legionnaires disease or a mild febrile disease known as Pontiac fever

Distribution

 

Genome

Legionella

G+C Mol %

39-43

 

Reference

Legionella

First citation	Brenner,D.J., A.G. Steigerwalt and J.E. McDade (1979) Classification of the Legionnaires' disease bacterium: Legionella pneumophila, genus novum, species nova of the family Legionellaceae, familia nova. Ann. Intern. Med. 90:656-658
The Prokaryotes	p
Bergey's Systematatic	p 279 D. Brenner, J. C. Feeley and R. E. Weaver
Bergey's Determinative	p 86

References

Vasey et al 1988 J. Appl. Bacteriol 65: 339-345 Fox and Brown 1989 J. Clin. Microbiol 27: 1952-1955 Thacker et al 1989 J. Clin Microbiol 27: 1831-1834 Bornstein et al 1989 Res. Microbiol 140: 541-552