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Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Veterinary bacteriology: information about important bacteria
Veterinary bacteriology


Species/Subspecies: Brucella suis
Categories: Zoonotic; notifiable diseases and bacteria
Etymology: Genus name: named after Sir David Bruce, who first identified the organism, which causes brucellosis.
Species epithet: of pig.
Significance:  [Very important]   
Alternative Species Name(s):Brucella melitensis biovar Suis
Taxonomy:
Phylum
Pseudomonadota
Class
Alphaproteobacteria
Order
Hyphomicrobiales
Family
Brucellaceae 
Genus
Brucella
Type Strain: 1330 = ATCC 23444 = NCTC 10316.
Macromorphology (smell): Pale honey coloured transparant colonies, which do not give hemolysis on blood agar.
Micromorphology: Non-motile cocci or short rods
Gram +/Gram -:G-
Metabolism: Aerobic
Catalase/Oxidase:+/+
Other Enzymes: Urease +
Fermentation of carbohydrates: Most Brucella spp. do not produce acid by fermentation of carbohydrates.
Spec. Char.:
Special Media:
Disease:
HostsDiseaseClinical picture
PigsBrucellosisAbortion, stillbirths, infertility, orchitis, arthritis, spondylitis
HumansBrucellosisIntermittent fever, systemic disease
Genome Sequence:
Acc-noStrainSize (bp)Genome
NC_004310 and NC_004311 1330 3 315 175 (2c + ?) 
Chrom. I (2 107 794 bp) and chrom. II (1 207 381 bp), respectively.

16S rRNA Seq.:
Acc-noStrainNumber of NTOperon
L26169 (T) 1 412 
Two rRNA genes in chrom. I and one in chrom. II, respectively.

Taxonomy/phylogeny:
Brucella suis  
About 25 species have been described within genus Brucella and this genus is closely related to genus Bartonella. From a phylogenetic point of view, B. abortus, B. canis, B. ceti, B. melitensis, B. neotome, B. ovis, B. pinnipedialis and B. suis represent the same species (B. melitensis), but due to different host specificities, they have been affiliated with different species.
Legislation: Brucella suis belongs to category B as a potential bioterrorism agent according to NIAID.
Comment:May penetrate intact skinn. In Sweden brucellosis is notifiable to the Swedish Board of Agriculture and is governed by the epizootic diseases law.
Link: Epiwebb - om epizootisjukdomar [in Swedish]
Updated:2023-03-22

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