Eikenella corrodens

Eikenella
Eikenella corrodens on chocolate agar after 36 hours. Notice how colonies pit the agar, which is a distinct characteristic of this species.
Scientific classification
Domain:	Bacteria
Phylum:	Pseudomonadota
Class:	Betaproteobacteria
Order:	Neisseriales
Family:	Neisseriaceae
Genus:	Eikenella
Species:	E. corrodens
Binomial name
Eikenella corrodens (Eiken 1958) Jackson and Goodman 1972 (Approved Lists 1980)

Eikenella corrodens is a

Eikenella corrodens is a pleomorphic bacillus that sometimes appears coccobacillary and typically creates a depression (or "pit") in the agar on which it is growing. Only half produce the pitting of the agar considered characteristic.^{[citation needed]}. It is a slow-growing, facultative anaerobe and a gram-negative bacillus.^[6]

It grows in aerobic and anaerobic conditions, but requires an atmosphere enhanced by 3–10% carbon dioxide.^{[citation needed]}

The colonies are small and greyish, they produce a greenish discoloration of the underlying agar, and smell faintly of bleach (hypochlorite).^{[citation needed]}

They are oxidase-positive, catalase-negative, urease-negative, and indole-negative, and reduce nitrate to nitrite.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, Azakami et al reported that the periodontal pathogen E. corrodens has an

Eikenella corrodens was mentioned in an episode of Forensic Files, in which a hotel employee punched a woman in the mouth, knocking out two of her teeth. Her tooth bacteria caused a major infection in the man's hand.^[15]

Treatment

For accurate diagnoses, a high degree of suspicion is required in order to properly attribute an infection to Eikenella corrodens.