Janthinobacterium lividum | |
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Species: | J. lividum
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Binomial name | |
Janthinobacterium lividum (Eisenberg 1891) De Ley et al. 1978 (Approved Lists 1980)
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Type strain | |
ATCC 12473 CCUG 2344 CIP 103349 DSM 1522 HAMBI 1919 JCM 9043 LMG 2892 NCTC 9796 VKM B-1223 | |
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Janthinobacterium lividum is an aerobic, Gram-negative, soil-dwelling bacterium that has a distinctive dark-violet (almost black) color, due to a compound called violacein, which is produced when glycerol is metabolized as a carbon source.[2] Violacein has antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal properties. Its antifungal properties are of particular interest, since J. lividum is found on the skin of certain amphibians, including the red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus), where it prevents infection by the devastating chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis).[3]