page_title: Morganella morganii
section_title: Microbiology
hierarchical_section_title: Morganella morganii / Microbiology
caption_attribution_description: English: Morganella morganii ssp. morganii on blood agar. Cultivation 24 hours, 37°C.
context_page_description: Morganella morganii is a species of Gram-negative bacteria. It has a commensal relationship within the intestinal tracts of humans, mammals, and reptiles as normal flora. Although M. morganii has a wide distribution, it is considered an uncommon cause of community-acquired infection and it is most often encountered in postoperative and other nosocomial infections such as urinary tract infections.
context_section_description: Morganella morganii is facultatively anaerobic and oxidase-negative. Its colonies appear off-white and opaque in color, when grown on agar plates. M. morganii cells are straight rods, about 0.6–0.7 μm in diameter and 1.0–1.7 μm in length. This organism moves by way of peritrichous flagella, but some strains do not form flagella at 30 °C.
  M. morganii  can produce the enzyme catalase, so is able to convert hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen. This is a common enzyme found in most living organisms. In addition, it is indole test-positive meaning that this organism can split tryptophan to indole, pyruvate, and ammonia. Methyl red tests positive in M. morganii, an indicator dye that turns red due to the bacterium's acid production during fermentation. Although a rare human pathogen, M. morganii has been reported as a cause of urinary tract infections, nosocomial surgical wound infections, peritonitis, central nervous system infection, endophthalmitis, pneumonia, chorioamnionitis, neonatal sepsis, pyomyositis, necrotizing fasciitis, and arthritis. Numerous cases of nosocomial infection have been described, usually as postsurgical wound infections or urinary tract infections. Patients in whom bacteremia develops are typically immunocompromised, diabetic, or elderly, or have at least one serious underlying disease.
caption: M. morganii grown on blood agar
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