ABSTRACT
The Enterobacter genus represents a large and heterogeneous group within the Enterobacteriaceae family. They are gram-negative, generally motile, oxidase-negative, nonspore forming, ³agellated, rod-shaped, facultative anaerobes and they reduce nitrate.1 While over the years a total of 22 Enterobacter species have been proposed, taxonomic studies have led to the transfer of three Enterobacter species to alternative genera (E. intermedius = Kluyvera intermedia, E. agglomerans = Pantoea agglomerans, E. sakazakii = Cronobacter spp.). In addition, E. taylorae has been recognized as a heterotypic synonym of E. cancerogenus, and E. dissolvens has been reassigned as E. cloacae subspecies dissolvens comb. nov. Thus, the genus Enterobacter currently contains 17 distinct species.2-5 E. dissolvens, E. asburiae, E. hormaechei, E. kobei, E. ludwigii, and E. nimipressuralis are closely related to E. cloacae, having a DNA relatedness of over 60% and/or differing by one biochemical trait, and have been subsumed in the so-called E. cloacae-complex. Along with E. aerogenes, these are considered the main species that are frequently isolated from clinical samples.6 Only one species-Enterobacter sakazakii-is recognized as a foodborne pathogen, particularly in relation to infections in infants after ingestion of reconstituted powdered nutritional products.7
