Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link Skip directly to A-Z link Skip directly to A-Z link
Volume 26, Number 11—November 2020
Etymologia

Etymologia: Nocardia

Figures
Article Metrics
Author affiliation: Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa

Cite This Article

Nocardia [no-kahr¢ e-əm]

The genus Nocardia is named in honor of Edmond Isidore Etienne Nocard (1850–1903), a French veterinarian and microbiologist who discovered the bacteria in 1888 from a bovine farcy case. He named this filamentous, branching bacteria Streptothrix farcinica (Greek streptós- “twisted” and thrix “hair”). Farcy (old French farcin), is a form of cutaneous glanders, characterized by superficial lymph node swelling and ulcerating nodule formation under the skin (Late Latin farcīminum “glanders,” from Latin farcīmen “a sausage,” from farcīre “to stuff”).

Figure

Twisted hair bacteria (Nocardia spp.) described by Edmond Nocard, from a bronchial alveolar lavage sample. Nocardiosis is an opportunistic infection, commonly associated with pulmonary disease. Nocardia are partially acid-fast, filamentous, branching bacilli (modified Kinyoun acid-fast stain using weak acid [0.5% sulfuric acid] for decolorization and methylene blue counterstain, original magnification x1,000.) Photograph courtesy of the author.

Figure. Twisted hair bacteria (Nocardia spp.) described by Edmond Nocard, from a bronchial alveolar lavage sample. Nocardiosis is an opportunistic infection, commonly associated with pulmonary disease. Nocardiaare...

One year later, Trevisan characterized and termed the bacteria Nocardia farcinica (Figure), creating the genus Nocardia. In 1890, Eppinger isolated a similar organism from a brain abscess and called it Cladothrix asteroides (Greek kládos- “branch” and -thrix “hair”) because of its star-shaped colonies (Greek asteroeidēs “starlike”). Blanchard renamed the organism Nocardia asteriodes in 1896. Additional taxonomic work in 1962 resulted in Nocardia asteroides replacing Nocardia farcinica as the type species for the genus Nocardia.

Top

References

  1. Blanchard  R. 1896. Plant pests excluding bacteria [in French]. In: Bouchard C, editor. Treatise of general pathology. Volume II. Paris: Mason. p. 811–926.
  2. Gordon  RE, Mihm  JM. The type species of the genus Nocardia. J Gen Microbiol. 1962;27:110. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  3. Nocard  E. Note on the disease of oxen from Guadeloupe known as farcin [in French]. Ann Inst Pasteur (Paris). 1888;2:293302.
  4. Saubolle  MA, Sussland  D. Nocardiosis: review of clinical and laboratory experience. J Clin Microbiol. 2003;41:4497501. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  5. Trevisan  V. 1889. Genera and species of the batteries [in Italian]. Milan: Zanaboni and Gabuzzi; 1889.

Top

Figure

Top

Cite This Article

DOI: 10.3201/eid2611.et2611

Original Publication Date: October 05, 2020

Related Links

Top

Table of Contents – Volume 26, Number 11—November 2020

EID Search Options
presentation_01 Advanced Article Search – Search articles by author and/or keyword.
presentation_01 Articles by Country Search – Search articles by the topic country.
presentation_01 Article Type Search – Search articles by article type and issue.

Top

Comments

Please use the form below to submit correspondence to the authors or contact them at the following address:

Christoffel J. Opperman, National Health Laboratory Service, Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa.

Send To

10000 character(s) remaining.

Top

Page created: October 05, 2020
Page updated: October 19, 2020
Page reviewed: October 19, 2020
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
file_external