Difference Between Pseudomonas Aeruginosa and Enterobacteriaceae

Key Difference – Pseudomonas Aeruginosa vs Enterobacteriaceae
 

Bacteria are microorganisms that cause diseases in animals and plants. They are ubiquitous organisms, meaning they are present everywhere.  Enterobacteriaceae is a large family of gram-negative bacteria. It includes rod-shaped, flagellated motile bacteria. This family consists of most common pathogenic bacteria such as E. coli, Shigella, Salmonella, Klebsiella, etc. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a gram-negative, rod-shaped motile bacterium of the family Pseudomonadaceae and order Pseudomonadales. P. aeruginosa is an aerobic bacterium that is known as a common nosocomial pathogen. The key difference between P. aeruginosa and Enterobacteriaceae is that P. aeruginosa is a bacterial species while Enterobacteriaceae is a family of gram-negative bacteria.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Pseudomonas Aeruginosa
3. What is Enterobacteriaceae
4. Similarities Between Pseudomonas Aeruginosa and Enterobacteriaceae
5. Side by Side Comparison – Pseudomonas Aeruginosa vs Enterobacteriaceae in Tabular Form
6. Summary

What is Pseudomonas Aeruginosa?

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a bacterial species that is gram negative and rod-shaped. It causes diseases in plants and animals including humans. P. aeruginosa is an obligate aerobic bacterium. It is common as an opportunistic pathogen. P. aeruginosa belongs to family Pseudomonadaceae and order Pseudomonadales. P. aeruginosa produces exotoxins and endotoxins that are powerful infectious agents.

Aeruginosa is a very ubiquitous bacterium that is found in all most all the habitats including soil, water, humans, animals, plants, sewage, and hospitals. P. aeruginosa is popular as a nosocomial pathogen. P. aeruginosa is a multidrug-resistant bacterial species. Hence, it is caused by hospital-acquired infections such as pneumonia, sepsis etc.

What is Enterobacteriaceae?

Enterobacteriaceae is a large family of grams negative bacteria. It consists of nonpathogenic and pathogenic bacteria. They are found in soil and plants and are colonizers of the gastrointestinal tract of humans and animals. A well known pathogenic bacteria, Shigella, E. coli, Salmonella, Klebsiella belong to this family. And also this family consists of disease-causing bacteria such as Proteus, Enterobacter, Serratia, and Citrobacter etc.

Enterobacteriaceae belongs to the order Enterobacteriales. This family contains rod-shaped bacteria. Since they are gram-negative, they stain in pink colour during the grams staining procedure. Enterobacteriaceae bacteria are mostly facultative anaerobic or aerobes. They possess flagella and this family contains many motile bacteria. Some bacteria are non-motile. Bacteria in the Enterobacteriaceae are non-spore forming. Many of the Enterobacteriaceae bacteria produce endotoxins that are harmful and cause diseases. Endotoxins are responsible for inflammatory and vasodilatory immune responses in humans when released into the bloodstream.

One of the most popular Enterobacteriaceae bacterium E. coli is a free-living bacterium that causes urinary tract infection and traveler’s diarrhea and is the most common cause of nosocomial bacteremia.

What are the Similarities Between Pseudomonas Aeruginosa and Enterobacteriaceae?

• Both aeruginosa and family Enterobacteriaceae are grams negative.
• Both aeruginosa and family Enterobacteriaceae are rod-shaped bacteria.
• Both types of bacteria stain in pink colour during the grams staining.
• Both types cause pneumonia and diarrhea.
• aeruginosa and Enterobacteriaceae bacteria produce toxins.
• aeruginosa and Enterobacteriaceae are non-spore forming.

What is the Difference Between Pseudomonas Aeruginosa and Enterobacteriaceae?

Summary – Pseudomonas Aeruginosa vs Enterobacteriaceae

Enterobacteriaceae is a large family of gram-negative bacteria that are non-spore forming, rod-shaped, motile and flagellated. This family includes most common disease-causing pathogenic bacteria such as E. coli, Shigella, Salmonella and klebsiella. Bacteria that belong to this family are aerobic or facultatively anaerobic. Pseadomonas aeruginosa is a gram-negative, rod-shaped flagellated bacterium family Pseudomonadaceae. It is a ubiquitous bacterium present in everywhere. It is known as an opportunistic pathogen that causes nosocomial diseases in immune-compromised people. P. aeruginosa is an obligate aerobic bacterium. And it is not forming spores. It produces exotoxins and endotoxins. This is the difference between P. aeruginosa and Enterobacteriaceae.

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Reference:

1. “Enterobacteriaceae.” Enterobacteriaceae – an overview | ScienceDirect Topics. Available here 
2.“Pseudomonas aeruginosa.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Jan. 2018. Available here  

Image Courtesy:

1.’Pseudomonas aeruginosa culture’By Sun14916 – Own work, (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia 
2.’Enterobacteriaceae Antigen’By JrPolderivative work: Matthias M. (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia