Aerococcus

Aerococcus, from Ancient Greek ἀήρ (aḗr), meaning "air", and κόκκος (kókkos), meaning "berry", is a genus of bacterium in the phylum Bacillota (Bacteria).^[1] The genus was first identified in 1953 from samples of air and dust as a catalase-negative, gram-positive coccus that grew in small clusters.^[2] They were subsequently found in hospital environments and meat-curing brines.^[3] It has been difficult to identify as it resembles alpha-hemolytic Streptococcus on blood agar plates and is difficult to identify by biochemical means.^[4] Sequencing of 16S rRNA has become the gold standard for identification, but other techniques such as MALDI-TOF have also been useful for identifying both the genus and species.^[4]

Aerococcus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Bacteria
Kingdom:	Bacillati
Phylum:	Bacillota
Class:	Bacilli
Order:	Lactobacillales
Family:	Aerococcaceae
Genus:	Aerococcus Williams et al., 1953
Type species
A. viridans Williams et al., 1953

Etymology

The name Aerococcus derives from Ancient Greek ἀήρ (aḗr), meaning "air", and κόκκος (kókkos), meaning "berry".^[5] The name was given based on its round shape and that it was first discovered in air samples.^[2]

Species

The genus contains these species:^[6]

• A. agrisoli Sun et al., 2023 (from Latin *ager* “field, farm” + *solum* “soil,” “of farmland soil”)^[7]
• A. christensenii Collins et al., 1999, named after Danish microbiologist Jens J. Christensen^[8]
• A. kribbianus Bai et al., 2024 (honours KRIBB, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience & Biotechnology)^[9]
• A. loyolae Choi et al., 2023 (from Latin gen. *loyolae*, “of Loyola,” referring to Loyola University Chicago, site of isolation)^[10]
• A. mictus Choi et al., 2023 (Latin gen. *mictus*, “of urinating,” from human urine, first source)^[10]
• A. sanguinicola Lawson et al., 2001 (from the Latin for “blood-dweller”)^[11]
• A. suis Vela et al., 2007 (Latin “of a hog”)^[12]
• A. tenax Choi et al., 2023 (Latin masc. adj. *tenax*, “tenacious,” referring to strong biofilm behaviour)^[10]
• A. urinae Aguirre & Collins, 1992 (Latin “of urine”)^[13]
• A. urinaeequi (Garvie 1988) Felis et al., 2005 (Latin “of horse urine”)^[14]
• A. urinaehominis Lawson et al., 2001 (Latin “of human urine”)^[15]
• A. vaginalis Tohno et al., 2014 (Latin *vaginalis*, “pertaining to the vagina”)^[16]
• A. viridans Williams et al., 1953—type species (Latin “making green”); causative agent of gaffkaemia in lobsters.^[17][18]

See also

• Bacterial taxonomy
• Microbiology