What is Staphylococcus aureus?
{{italictitle}} {{Taxobox | name = ''Staphylococcus aureus'' | image = Staphylococcus aureus VISA 2.jpg | image_width = 270px | domain = [[Bacteria]] | regnum = [[Bacterium|Eubacteria]] | phylum = [[Firmicutes]] | classis = [[Bacilli]] | ordo = [[Bacillales]] | familia = [[Staphylococcaceae]] | genus = ''[[Staphylococcus]]'' | binomial = ''Staphylococcus aureus'' | binomial_authority = Rosenbach 1985 }} '''Staphylococcus aureus''' ('''also ''S. aureus''''', from the Greek σταφυλόκοκκος, “grape-cluster berry”, Latin aureus, “golden”) is a [[gram-positive]], round shaped bacterium appearing in grape-like clusters, often living on the skin or in the nose of a person,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kluytmans|first1=J|last2=van Belkum|first2=A|last3=Verbrugh|first3=H|date=July 1997|title=Nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus: epidemiology, underlying mechanisms, and associated risks|journal=Clinical Microbiology Reviews|language=en|volume=10|issue=3|pages=505–520|doi=10.1128/CMR.10.3.505|issn=0893-8512|pmc=172932|pmid=9227864}}</ref> as well as in the lower reproductive tract of women.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Senok|first1=Abiola C|last2=Verstraelen|first2=Hans|last3=Temmerman|first3=Marleen|last4=Botta|first4=Giuseppe A|date=2009-10-07|editor-last=Cochrane STI Group|title=Probiotics for the treatment of bacterial vaginosis|url=https://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/14651858.CD006289.pub2|journal=Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews|issue=4 |pages=CD006289 |language=en|doi=10.1002/14651858.CD006289.pub2|pmid=19821358 }}</ref> It is anaerobic, which means that it can grow without an oxygen atmosphere.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Masalha|first1=Mahmud|last2=Borovok|first2=Ilya|last3=Schreiber|first3=Rachel|last4=Aharonowitz|first4=Yair|last5=Cohen|first5=Gerald|date=2001-12-15|title=Analysis of Transcription of the Staphylococcus aureus Aerobic Class Ib and Anaerobic Class III Ribonucleotide Reductase Genes in Response to Oxygen|journal=Journal of Bacteriology|language=en|volume=183|issue=24|pages=7260–7272|doi=10.1128/JB.183.24.72