Habitat and Morphology of  Staphylococcus aureus

Habitat

1. Natural habitat is mammalian body surfaces.
2. They are normal flora of skin and mucous membrane.
3. Also present in nose / the anterior nares.
4. They can also be found in Pharynx.
5. Found in stratified epithelial cells or mucous or serum constituents associated with these cells.
6. Found in skin/nasal passage and axillae of humans.
7. They act as benign or symbiotic relationship with the hosts.
8. Enterogeneric strains of S. aureus are found in various food products.
9. They may survive in dry skin.
10. Thirty percent (30%) of the normal human healthy population is affected by S. aureus as it asymptomatically colonizes on the skin of human host.

Morphology

1. Gram positive, singly, in pairs or in short chain of 3-4 bacteria.
2. Irregular clusters of cells.
3. 1 um in diameter
4. Spherical colonies in clusters in two planes.
5. Cell wall- very thick peptidoglycan layer
6. Non-Flagellated, Non-Motile and Non-Sporing
7. They are capsulated.
8. Grapes like clusters arrangement.

Habitat and Morphology of Staphylococcus aureus