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The Genus Gemella

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The Prokaryotes

Introduction

The genus Gemella until recently consisted of two species, G. haemolysans (the type species of the genus), and G. morbillorum (Berger, 1992). In the past few years four other species, G. bergeri (Collins et al., 1998b), G. sanguinis (Collins et al., 1998a), G. palaticanis (Collins et al., 1999) and G. cuniculi (Hoyles et al., 2000), have been assigned to the genus. The cells of gemellae are cocci, which are arranged in pairs, tetrads, small irregular clusters and sometimes in small chains; elongate and rod-shaped forms may also occur. Cells stain Gram positive but often decolorize easily and appear Gram negative. The organisms are facultatively anaerobic, preferring an atmosphere rich in CO2, but growth can occur under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions (Berger, 1992). Gemellae are nonmotile and do not form endospores. They are cytochrome oxidase- and catalase-negative.

The genus Gemella was originally monospecific, containing only G. haemolysans. Because the organism...

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Authors
  1. Matthew D. Collins
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, University of Minnesota, Box 196, Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN 55455-0312, USA

    Martin Dworkin Professor Dr. (Editor-in-Chief) (Editor-in-Chief)

  2. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University Medical School, 299 Campus Drive, Fairchild, D039, Stanford, CA, 94305-5124, USA

    Stanley Falkow

  3. Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, Tel Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv, 69978, Israel

    Eugene Rosenberg

  4. Department of Microbiology, Technical University Munich, 80290, Munich, Germany

    Karl-Heinz Schleifer

  5. DSMZ- German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures GmbH, Mascheroder Weg 1b, 38124, Braunschweig, Germany

    Erko Stackebrandt

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Collins, M.D. (2006). The Genus Gemella . In: Dworkin, M., Falkow, S., Rosenberg, E., Schleifer, KH., Stackebrandt, E. (eds) The Prokaryotes. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30744-3_14

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