Gram-Positive, Anaerobic, and Filamentous Bacterial Pathogens

Vocabulary flashcards covering key bacterial pathogens, morphological traits, virulence factors, and clinical conditions across all five transcript sources.

Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae

A Gram-positive, catalase-negative, non-motile, urease-negative bacterium capable of $H_2S$ production that causes swine erysipelas and is resistant to drying, salting, pickling, and smoking.

Swine Erysipelas

A disease caused by Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae occurring in acute septicemic, cutaneous ('diamond skin disease'), and chronic forms involving vegetative endocarditis and arthritis.

Corynebacterium

A genus of Gram-positive, pleomorphic, non-spore-forming bacilli that arrange in parallel 'palisades' or crisscrossing angular 'Chinese letters'.

Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis

A soil-dwelling pathogen transmitted via abrasions or shearing wounds that causes caseous lymphadenitis, pseudotuberculosis, and ulcerative lymphangitis in livestock.

Corynebacterium renale

A prominent animal pathogen responsible for cystitis and pyelonephritis in cattle.

Rhodococcus equi

A pyogenic, soil-dwelling bacterium acquired via dust inhalation that causes suppurative bronchopneumonia in foals under 6 months of age.

Listeria monocytogenes

A facultative intracellular saprophytic bacterium exhibiting tumbling motility in broth media that causes listeriosis and circling disease in ruminants.

Listeriolysin O

The primary virulence factor of Listeria monocytogenes (designated LLO) that causes $\beta$-hemolysis on erythrocytes and destroys phagocytic cells.

Circling Disease

The encephalitic form of listeriosis in ruminants, named for the movement of affected animals in circles in one direction.

Listeria ivanovii

A species of Listeria that causes late-term abortion in sheep, goats, and cattle.

Bacillus anthracis

A non-motile, spore-forming, facultative anaerobic rod that causes anthrax and produces highly stable spores surviving in soil for up to 50 years.

Anthrax Toxins

A tripartite toxin complex produced by Bacillus anthracis consisting of Edema factor (EF / Factor I), Protective antigen (PA / Factor II), and Lethal factor (LF / Factor III).

Sterne Strain

An attenuated strain of Bacillus anthracis discovered in the 1930s that naturally lost its pXO2 plasmid and is used in vaccines.

Trueperella pyogenes

A facultative anaerobic, non-motile, catalase-positive bacterium (formerly Arcanobacterium pyogenes) that causes abscesses, mastitis, and pneumonia in ruminants and swine.

Clostridium botulinum

An obligate anaerobic bacterium with sub-terminal oval spores that produces a potent neurotoxin causing flaccid paralysis.

Clostridium tetani

An obligate anaerobe with terminal spherical spores giving a 'drum stick' appearance, which produces tetanospasmin to cause spastic paralysis.

Clostridium perfringens

An encapsulated, non-motile anaerobic bacterium associated with gas gangrene, yellow lamb disease, and enterotoxemia ('overeating disease' or 'pulpy kidney disease') in sheep.

Clostridium chauvoei

A histotoxic anaerobe inhabiting the intestines and soil that causes Blackleg (emphysematous necrotizing myositis) in young cattle and sheep.

Clostridium novyi

A histotoxic clostridial species responsible for 'big head' in young rams and infectious necrotic hepatitis ('black disease') in sheep and cattle.

Actinomyces bovis

A Gram-positive bacillus that causes 'lumpy jaw' (chronic pyogranulomatous osteomyelitis) in cattle following oral mucous membrane trauma.

Sulfur Granules

Yellowish particles present in exudates or aspirates from active lesions caused by Actinomyces species.

Actinobacillus lignieresii

A Gram-negative bacterium that causes 'wooden tongue' in cattle, characterized by hard tumor-like masses in tongue tissue.

Nocardia asteroides Complex

A group of aerobic, partially acid-fast Gram-positive bacteria (including N. farcinica, N. nova, and N. transvalensis) causing bovine mastitis and pulmonary nocardiosis.

Dermatophilus congolensis

A filamentous bacterium invading the epidermis to cause exudative epidermitis, known as 'rain scald' in horses, 'streptothricosis' in cattle, and 'strawberry footrot' in sheep.

Fusobacterium necrophorum

A non-spore-forming anaerobic rod causing calf diphtheria, bovine footrot, liver abscesses, ovine interdigital dermatitis, and 'bull-nose' in swine.

Leukotoxin

A major virulence factor of Fusobacterium necrophorum that induces apoptosis at low concentrations and lyses ruminant leukocytes and hepatocytes at high concentrations.

Dichelobacter nodosus

The primary causal agent of contagious foot rot in sheep, requiring Type IV fimbriae for twitching motility and serine proteases to break down hoof proteins.

Bacteroides fragilis

A non-spore-forming anaerobic bacterium whose enterotoxigenic strains cause scours and neonatal diarrhea in young farm animals.