Prevotella

Takaaki Kobayashi, M.D., Paul G. Auwaerter, M.D.
Prevotella is a topic covered in the Johns Hopkins ABX Guide.

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MICROBIOLOGY

  • Non-motile Gram-negative bacillus; may appear as slender rods or coccobacilli. [Fig 1and Fig 2]
    • Usually recovered in anaerobic cultures.
    • Previously described as a Bacteroides species, reclassified under the genus Prevotella.[14]
    • Slow grower, some species require > 48 hrs incubation.
    • As for all anaerobic bacteria, diagnosis of Prevotella spp. infections require specialized techniques for transport, isolation, processing and identification.
      • Prevotella identification in many laboratories is still based on phenotypic methods.
      • Prevotella spp. are bile-sensitive and vancomycin-resistant in contrast to species of the Bacteroides fragilis group and Porphyromonas spp., respectively.[7]
  • More than 50 species of Prevotella have been identified.
    • In oral and head-and-neck infections, common isolates were Prevotella intermedia and Prevotella melaninogenica within the pigmented species as well as Prevotella oris and Prevotella oralis group within the non-pigmented species.[6]
  • Prevotella species are intrinsically resistant to aminoglycosides, aztreonam, trimethoprim, sulfonamides and fosfomycin.[7]

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MICROBIOLOGY

  • Non-motile Gram-negative bacillus; may appear as slender rods or coccobacilli. [Fig 1and Fig 2]
    • Usually recovered in anaerobic cultures.
    • Previously described as a Bacteroides species, reclassified under the genus Prevotella.[14]
    • Slow grower, some species require > 48 hrs incubation.
    • As for all anaerobic bacteria, diagnosis of Prevotella spp. infections require specialized techniques for transport, isolation, processing and identification.
      • Prevotella identification in many laboratories is still based on phenotypic methods.
      • Prevotella spp. are bile-sensitive and vancomycin-resistant in contrast to species of the Bacteroides fragilis group and Porphyromonas spp., respectively.[7]
  • More than 50 species of Prevotella have been identified.
    • In oral and head-and-neck infections, common isolates were Prevotella intermedia and Prevotella melaninogenica within the pigmented species as well as Prevotella oris and Prevotella oralis group within the non-pigmented species.[6]
  • Prevotella species are intrinsically resistant to aminoglycosides, aztreonam, trimethoprim, sulfonamides and fosfomycin.[7]

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Last updated: October 10, 2021