21 Facts About Salmonella

Salmonella is a genus of rod-shaped Gram-negative bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae.

Salmonella was named after Daniel Elmer Salmon, an American veterinary surgeon.

Salmonella species are non-spore-forming, predominantly motile enterobacteria with cell diameters between about 0.

Salmonella species are intracellular pathogens; of which certain serotypes cause illness.

However, in sub-Saharan Africa, nontyphoidal Salmonella can be invasive and cause paratyphoid fever, which requires immediate treatment with antibiotics.

Related searches

Typhoid fever is caused by Salmonella invading the bloodstream, or in addition spreading throughout the body, invading organs, and secreting endotoxins .

Salmonella was first visualized in 1880 by Karl Eberth in the Peyer's patches and spleens of typhoid patients.

The name Salmonella was not used until 1900, when Joseph Leon Lignieres proposed that the pathogen discovered by Salmon's group be called Salmonella in his honor.

Salmonella can be detected and subtyped using multiplex or real-time polymerase chain reaction from extracted Salmonella DNA.

Salmonella is notorious for its ability to survive desiccation and can persist for years in dry environments and foods.

Later, molecular findings led to the hypothesis that Salmonella consisted of only one species, S enterica, and the serotypes were classified into six groups, two of which are medically relevant.

In 2005, a third species, Salmonella subterranea, was proposed, but according to the World Health Organization, the bacterium reported does not belong in the genus Salmonella.

Salmonella can invade different cell types, including epithelial cells, M cells, macrophages, and dendritic cells.

Gastric acidity is responsible for the destruction of the majority of ingested bacteria, but Salmonella has evolved a degree of tolerance to acidic environments that allows a subset of ingested bacteria to survive.

Much of the success of Salmonella in causing infection is attributed to two type III secretion systems which are expressed at different times during the infection.

The secretion of T3SS-2 effectors by Salmonella is required for its efficient survival in the host cytosol and establishment of systemic disease.

The forms of localized Salmonella infections are arthritis, urinary tract infection, infection of the central nervous system, bone infection, soft tissue infection, etc.

Hallmark of Salmonella pathogenesis is the ability of the bacterium to survive and proliferate within phagocytes.

Some ways that Salmonella serotypes have adapted to their hosts include loss of genetic material and mutation.

In more complex mammalian species, immune systems, which include pathogen specific immune responses, target serovars of Salmonella through binding of antibodies to structures such as flagella.

So, Salmonella could have evolved into its many different serotypes through gaining genetic information from different pathogenic bacteria.