Serratia is a genus of Gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic bacteria in the Enterobacteriaceae family. The primary species is S. marcescens, famous for its red pigment prodigiosin and its role as a nosocomial opportunistic pathogen. In the WikiBiome vault, Serratia appears across reproductive tract, cardiovascular, and oncology contexts.
Key Associations
- Enterobacteriaceae identification: Part of the Enterobacteriaceae panel relevant to clinical dysbiosis assessment khan 2011 novel approach enterobacteriaceae identification clinical.
- Colorectal cancer: Identified in CRC-associated microbiome studies marchesi 2011 towards human crc microbiome.
- Cardiovascular disease: Part of gut microbiota associated with vascular biomarkers in subclinical CVD kashtanova 2017 gut microbiota vascular biomarkers subclinical cvd.
- Prostate/reproductive: Present in prostate cancer-associated microbiome and seminal fluid studies trecarten 2025 obesity diet microbiome prostate cancer neto 2024 environmental factors seminal microbiome sperm quality johri 2023 phage therapy ecoli chronic prostatitis case.
Metal Dependencies
S. marcescens produces metalloproteases (zinc-dependent) and requires iron for growth. Like other Enterobacteriaceae, it possesses siderophore-mediated iron acquisition systems.
Cross-References
- enterobacteriaceae — family-level context
- iron — siderophore-dependent iron acquisition