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Taxonomy

Taxonomy of the Family Neisseriaceae

Neisseria species and the related species Moraxella catarrhalis and Kingella denitrificans belong to the family Neisseriaceae. The genera Moraxella and Acinetobacter are also included in the family Neisseriaceae. These genera are distinguished by the characteristics shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Differential characteristics of genera assigned to the family Neisseriaceae

Characteristic	Genus (Species)
	Neisseria*	M. catarrhalis	Kingella	Moraxella	Acinetobacter	M. urethralis**
Cells	Diplococci Rods***	Diplococci	Coccobacilli	Rods	Rods	Rods
Oxidase	+	+	+	+	-	+
Catalase	+	+	-	+	+	+
Acid from Glucose	[+]	-	+	-	D	-
Nitrite Reduction	+	D	+	-	-	-

*Species of human origin: Neisseria gonorrhoeae, N. meningitidis, N. gonorrhoeae subspecies kochii N. lactamica, N. polysaccharea, N. cinerea, N. flavescens N. subflava biovars subflava, flava, and perflava, N. sicca, N. mucosa, N. elongata
Species of animal origin: N. canis, N. macacae, N. weaverii, N. iguanae and the species incertae sedis (taxonomic position uncertain) N. caviae, N. ovis, N. cuniculi
**Species incertae sedis.
***N. elongata, N. weaverii are rods

References

Bovre K. 1984. Family VIII. Neisseriaceae Prevot, p. 288-309. In N. R. Krieg (ed.). Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, vol. 1. The Williams & Wilkins co., Baltimore.