Francisella tularensis is a pathogenic species of Gram-negative coccobacillus, an aerobic bacterium. ... It is nonspore-forming, nonmotile, and the causative agent ...FrancisellatularensisFromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopediaJumptonavigationJumptosearchSpeciesofbacteriumFrancisellatularensisFrancisellatularensisbacteria(blue)infectingamacrophage(yellow)ScientificclassificationDomain:BacteriaPhylum:ProteobacteriaClass:GammaproteobacteriaOrder:ThiotrichalesFamily:FrancisellaceaeGenus:FrancisellaSpecies:F. tularensisBinomialnameFrancisellatularensis(McCoyandChapin1912)Dorofe'ev1947FrancisellatularensisisapathogenicspeciesofGram-negativecoccobacillus,anaerobicbacterium.[1]Itisnonspore-forming,nonmotile,[2]andthecausativeagentoftularemia,thepneumonicformofwhichisoftenlethalwithouttreatment.Itisafastidious,facultativeintracellularbacterium,whichrequirescysteineforgrowth.[3]Duetoitslowinfectiousdose,easeofspreadbyaerosol,andhighvirulence,F.tularensisisclassifiedasaTier1SelectAgentbytheU.S.government,alongwithotherpotentialagentsofbioterrorismsuchasYersiniapestis,Bacillusanthracis,andEbolavirus.Whenfoundinnature,Francisellatularensiscansurviveforseveralweeksatlowtemperaturesinanimalcarcasses,soil,andwater.Inthelaboratory,F.tularensisappearsassmallrods(0.2by0.2 µm),andisgrownbestat35–37 °C.[4]Contents1History2Classification3Pathogenesis3.1Lifecycle3.2Virulencefactors4Genetics5Phylogenetics6Useasabiologicalweapon7Diagnosis,treatment,andprevention8Genomics9Seealso10References11ExternallinksHistory[edit]ThisspecieswasdiscoveredingroundsquirrelsinTulareCounty,California,in1911;BacteriumtularensewassoonisolatedbyGeorgeWalterMcCoy(1876–1952)oftheUSPlagueLabinSanFranciscoandreportedin1912.In1922,EdwardFrancis(1872–1957),aphysicianandmedicalresearcherfromOhio,discoveredthatBacteriumtularensewasthecausativeagentoftularemia,afterstudyingseveralcaseswithsymptomsofthedisease.Later,itbecameknownasFrancisellatularensis,inhonorofthediscoverybyFrancis.[5][6][7]ThediseasewasalsodescribedintheFuk