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Phylum	Class	Order	Family	Genus	Species/Subspecies

Species/Subspecies:

Neisseria meningitidis

Categories:

In the normal flora; primarily of interest in human medicin; notifiable diseases and bacteria

Etymology:

Genus name: Named after Albert Neisser, who discovered the agent from a patient in year 1889.
Species epithet: inflammation of the meninges, (meningitis)

Significance:

[Unclassified]]

Taxonomy:

Phylum
Pseudomonadota

Class
Betaproteobacteria

Order
Neisseriales

Family
Neisseriaceae

Genus
Neisseria

Type Strain:

Macromorphology (smell):

Grayish, nonhemolytic, round, convex, smooth, moist, and glistening with a clearly defined edge

Micromorphology:

Nonmotile cocci (0.6-1.0 µm in diameter), which often appear in pairs (diplococci), in the shape of coffee beans.

Gram +/Gram -:

G-

Metabolism:

Aerobic

Catalase/Oxidase:

+/+

Fermentation of carbohydrates:

Note! Neisseria spp. produce acid from carbohydrates by oxidation, not fermentation.

Spec. Char.:

Special Media:

Reservoir:

Occurs worldwide,around 10% of adults carrying it in their nasopharynx

Disease:

Epidemic meningitis

Hosts	Disease	Clinical picture
Humans	Epidemic meningitis	Mainly affects children, teenagers and young adults Impaired general condition, fever, fatigue, nausea, headache, petechial rash, muscle aches and neck stffness

16S rRNA Seq.:

Taxonomy/phylogeny:

About 33 species have been described within genus Neisseria, which is related to the generaBurkholderia and Taylorella.

Comment:

Trivial name: Meningococcus

Updated:

2026-03-20

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