Coxiella burnetii | |
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A dry fracture of a Vero cell exposing the contents of a vacuole where Coxiella burnetii is growing | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Bacteria |
Phylum: | Pseudomonadota |
Class: | Gammaproteobacteria |
Order: | Legionellales |
Family: | Coxiellaceae |
Genus: | Coxiella |
Species: | C. burnetii
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Binomial name | |
Coxiella burnetii (Derrick 1939)
Philip 1948 |
Coxiella burnetii is an obligate intracellular bacterial pathogen, and is the causative agent of Q fever.[1] The genus Coxiella is morphologically similar to Rickettsia, but with a variety of genetic and physiological differences. C. burnetii is a small Gram-negative, coccobacillary bacterium that is highly resistant to environmental stresses such as high temperature, osmotic pressure, and ultraviolet light. These characteristics are attributed to a small cell variant form of the organism that is part of a biphasic developmental cycle, including a more metabolically and replicatively active large cell variant form.[2] It can survive standard disinfectants, and is resistant to many other environmental changes like those presented in the phagolysosome.[3]