The genus name of staphylococci, Staphylococcus, is a derivative of a Greek term staphle which means ‘bunches of grapes’. As the name suggests, staphylococci are organized in a cluster and are gram-positive cocci. They look like gram-positive spherical cells on the Gram-stained smears (Pradhan, 2015). Usually, they are arranged in clusters, singly or in pairs. Besides, the staphylococci are catalase positive.
Except for S.saccharolyticus, all staphylococci are aerobic with some being facultatively anaerobic. Important to note, staphylococci are non-motile and non-spore forming (Pradhan, 2015). During incubation, the Colonies produced in18 to 24 hours are average in size ranging from 4mm to 8 mm (Pradhan, 2015). At this stage, they look cream-colored, white or rarely light gold. Usually, Staphylococci are skin inhabitants. However, some can be found in the mucous membrane of people and animals.
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Primarily, Staphylococcus species are distinguished by the coagulase test. The species that produce enzyme coagulase test positive. The enzyme produced forms a clot in the plasma (Pradhan, 2015). They include Staphylococcus intermedius , Staphylococcus aureus , Staphylococcus lutrae , and Staphylococcus delphini . On the other hand, Staphylococci that test negative are those that do not produce coagulase (Pradhan, 2015). They include Staphylococcus saprophyticus and Staphylococcus epidermidis and are denoted as CoNS.
Staphylococci and streptococci share some similar characteristics, but they also differ in some ways. First, according to Speziale, and Geoghegan (2015) their cells arrangement differs because of different binary fission. Staphylococci divide in all directions forming clusters whereas streptococci forms chains of spherical cells because of the linear division. Finally, staphylococci and streptococci can also be differentiated by the catalase test Streptococci test negative while Staphylococci test positive (Speziale, & Geoghegan, 2015).
References
Pradhan, P. (2015). General characteristics of staphylococci. Microbiology and Infectious Diseases . Retrieved December Friday, 2018, from http://microbesinfo.com/2015/03/general-characteristics-of-staphylococci/
Speziale, P., & Geoghegan, J. A. (2015). Biofilm formation by staphylococci and streptococci: Structural, functional and regulatory aspects and implications for pathogenesis . S.L: Frontiers Media SA
