Classification

Scientific name: Rickettsia rickettsii
            The name does not really mean anything in Latin the genus Rickettsia was     named after Howard Taylor Ricketts who was the first person to discover Rocky Mountain Spotted fever

Common name: Cause of Rocky Mountain spotted fever

                         Size: 0.3-0.5 x 0.8-2.0 um            Shape: coccobacilli
                         Gram stain: Gram-negative          Respiration: Aerobic

  • Domain: Bacteria
            Rickettsia rickettsii is a unicellular microorganism

  • Kingdom: Prokaryote
            Rickettsia rickettsii is a unicellular microorganism that lack a distinct nucleus and membrane- bound organelles

  • Phylum: Proteobacteria
             Rickettsia rickettsii is gram-negative with an outer membrane mainly composed of lipopolysaccharides

  • Class: Alpha Protobacteria
            Rickettsia rickettsii is a     bacterium that is a dangerous pathogen

Made in Microsoft Digital Image Pro 9

  • Order: Rickettsiales
            Rickettsia rickettsii can only     survive as an endosymbionic relationship other cells

  • Family: Rickettsiaceae
            Rickettsia rickettsii     inhabits an arthropod tissue and causes a terrible disease when transmitted to vertebrates

  • Genus: Rickettsia
            Rickettsia rickettsii is     non-motile, gram negative, non-spore forming, varies in size and shape of bacteria
                        Note: It is thought that the genus Rickettsia are the closest living relatives to bacteria that were the origin of the mitochondria.

  • Species: rickettsii
            Rickettsia rickettsii     is the cause of Rocky Mountain spotted fever

   Other spotted fever group rickettsiae that produce human rickettsioses include R. conorii, R. mongolotimonae and R. slovaca (bouteonneuse fever and similar illnesses), R. akari (rickettsial pox), R. japonica (Japanese spotted fever), R.sibirica (North Asian tick typhus), R. africae (African tick bite fever), R. helvetica (perimyocarditis), R. australis (Queensland tick typhus) and R. honei (Flinders Island spotted fever). 

Made in Microsoft Digital Image Pro 9

Phylogenetic tree of the spotted fever group. Rickettsia rickettsii is more closely related to Rickettsia conorii (Mediterranean spotted fever) and Rickettsia parkeri (Spotted fever rickettsiosis) due to their close genetic coding. Most of the spotted fever group need two host and normally show about the same characteristics, therefore the determining factor when trying to distinguish between the different bacteria is their genetic code.