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Staphylococcus: hemolysis
- Hemolysis of red blood cells on a blood agar plate is one of the most obvious colonial characteristics.
Most members of the family Micrococcaceae are non-hemolytic, as in the first slide above. This type of hemolysis is described as gamma-hemolysis.
- The second slide above depicts beta-hemolysis, where there is a clear zone around each colony. Like coagulase production, hemolysis is associated with
the more virulent strains and species: Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus intermedius. Staphylococcus hyicus, however, is not hemolytic.
There are other exceptions to this generalization.
- The third slide is an example of double zone beta-hemolysis, which may be seen with Staphylococcus aureus or Staphylococcus intermedius.
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