Enterococcus raffinosus


Enterococcus raffinosus is a bacterial species of the Gram-positive genus Enterococcus, named for its facultative anaerobic metabolism, including the ability to ferment the trisaccharide raffinose. This mesophilic microaerophile has optimal growth at 37°C in Columbia Blood Medium. It has an ovoid morphology categorized as coccal with arrangement singly, in pairs, or short chains.
According to analytical profile index results, this non-motile microbe is negative for urease and catalase but positive for Voges–Proskauer and pyrrolidonyl arylamidase. It hydrolyzes aesculin but not hippuric acid or starch. It lacks arginine deiminase, β-galactosidase, β-glucuronidase, and alkaline phosphatase.
Enterococcus raffinosus has been identified as a pathogen in Homo sapiens and Felis catus with vancomycin-resistant strains (VRE) involved in hospital-acquired infections that cause Crohn's disease. Additionally, this species uses Camelus dromedarius and Helix pomatia as hosts.
Sequencing of the CX012922 strain show genes divided between a 2.83 Mb circular genome for virulence factors like ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters and a 0.98 Mb circular megaplasmid for substrate utilization enzymes like raffinose permease.