Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of Graph Search.
Concept
Moraxella catarrhalis
Summary
Moraxella catarrhalis is a fastidious, nonmotile, Gram-negative, aerobic, oxidase-positive diplococcus that can cause infections of the respiratory system, middle ear, eye, central nervous system, and joints of humans. It causes the infection of the host cell by sticking to the host cell using trimeric autotransporter adhesins.
Moraxella catarrhalis is a human pathogen with an affinity for the human upper respiratory tract. Other primates, such as macaques, might become infected by this bacterium.
Moraxella catarrhalis was previously placed in a separate genus named Branhamella. The rationale for this was that other members of the genus Moraxella are rod-shaped and rarely caused infections in humans. However, results from DNA hybridization studies and 16S rRNA sequence comparisons were used to justify inclusion of the species M. catarrhalis in the genus Moraxella. As a consequence, the name Moraxella catarrhalis is currently preferred for these bacteria. Nevertheless, some in the medical field continue to call these bacteria Branhamella catarrhalis.
Moraxella is named after Victor Morax, a Swiss ophthalmologist who first described this genus of bacteria. Catarrhalis is derived from catarrh, from the Greek meaning "to flow down" (cata- implies down; -rrh implies flow), describing the profuse discharge from eyes and nose typically associated with severe inflammation in colds.
The whole genome sequence of M. catarrhalis CCUG 353 type strain was deposited and published in DNA Data Bank of Japan, European Nucleotide Archive, and GenBank in 2016 under the accession number LWAH00000000.
These bacteria are known to cause otitis media, bronchitis, sinusitis, and laryngitis. Elderly patients and long-term heavy smokers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease should be aware that M. catarrhalis is associated with bronchopneumonia, as well as exacerbations of existing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The peak rate of colonization by M. catarrhalis appears to occur around 2 years of age, with a striking difference in colonization rates between children and adults (very high to very low).
Official source
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
Ontological neighbourhood