Gordonia consists of at least 36 species, 9 known to cause human disease.50
Gordonia was once thought of as irrelevant coryneform bacteria. Note that this organism tends to look like diphtheroids on the Gram stain. Note: Images are scarce, but a good source for the workbench is the Manual of Clinical Microbiology (published by ASM Press).
Gordonia has been implicated in endocarditis and venous catheters.51 Systemic disease, such as bacteremia, is possible, associated with implantable subcutaneous central venous catheters. Most cases are opportunistic in nature.
| Characteristics | Comments |
| Appearance on Gram stain | Gram-positive or gram-variable short rods or cocci; thin, beaded coccobacilli (diphtheroid-like); nonbranching |
| Appearance on modified acid-fast stain (MAS) | Usually weakly acid-fast (red) |
| Most often associated with clinical disease51 | Most often isolated from human infections: G. aichiensis, G. bronchialis, G. effusa, G. otitidis, G. polyisoprenivorans, G. rubripertincta, G. sputi, G. terrae |
| Colonial growth50 | Non-hemolytic; no aerial hyphae; colonies are round -slimy and smooth to rough and irregular; may be dry and wrinkled; beige, brown, pink, or orange color, sometimes salmon or red if on chocolate agar. |
| Phenotypic characterization50 | Lysozyme resistance negative Urea hydrolysis positive Nitrate reduction positive Oxidative carbohydrate metabolism |
| Temperature of optimal growth | Growth at 45°C after 3 days
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51. Lesens O, Hansmann Y, Riegel P, et al. Bacteremia and endocarditis caused by a Gordonia species in a patient with a central venous catheter. Emerg Infect Dis. 2000;6(4):382-385. doi:10.3201/eid0604.000410
