Streptococcus agalactiae (also known as group B streptococcus or GBS) is a gram-positive coccus (round bacterium) with a tendency to form chains (as reflected by the genus name Streptococcus). It is a beta-hemolytic, catalase-negative, and facultative anaerobe.S. agalactiae is the most common human pathogen of streptococci belonging to group B of the Rebecca Lancefield classification of streptococci. GBS are surrounded by a bacterial capsule composed of polysaccharides (exopolysacharide). The species is subclassified into ten serotypes (Ia, Ib, II–IX) depending on the immunologic reactivity of their polysaccharide capsule.The plural term group B streptococci (referring to the serotypes) and the singular term group B streptococcus (referring to the single species) are both commonly encountered (even though S. halichoeri and S. pseudoporcinus are also group B Streptococci). In general, GBS is a harmless commensal bacterium being part of the human microbiota colonizing the gastrointestinal and genitourinary tract of up to 30% of healthy human adults (asymptomatic carriers). Nevertheless, GBS  can cause severe invasive infections especially in newborns, the elderly, and people with compromised immune systems. S. agalactiae is also a common veterinary pathogen, because it can cause bovine mastitis (inflammation of the udder) in dairy cows. The species name agalactiae meaning "of no milk", alludes to this. Laboratory identification
GBS grows readily on blood agar plates as colonies surrounded by a narrow zone of β-hemolysis. GBS is characterized by the presence in the cell wall of the antigen group B of Lancefield classification (Lancefield grouping) that can be detected directly in intact bacteria using latex agglutination tests.
Virulence
As other virulent bacteria, GBS harbors an important number of virulence factors (virulence factors are molecules produced by bacteria that boosts their capacity to infect and damage human tissues), the most important being the capsular polysaccharide (rich in sialic acid) 
and a pore-forming toxin, β-hemolysin. Today it is considered that GBS pigment and hemolysin are identical or closely related molecules. GBS infection in newborns
GBS colonization usually does not cause problems in healthy women, nevertheless during pregnancy it can sometimes cause serious illness for the mother and the newborn. GBS is the leading cause of bacterial neonatal infection in the baby during gestation and after delivery with significant mortality rates in premature infants. GBS infections in the mother can cause chorioamnionitis (a severe infection of the placental tissues) infrequently, postpartum infections (after birth) and it had been related with prematurity and fetal death. GBS urinary tract infections (UTI) may also induce labor and cause premature delivery. In the western world, GBS (in the absence of effective prevention measures) is the major cause of several bacterial infections of the newborn neonatal infection sepsis, pneumonia, and meningitis, which can lead to death or long-term sequelae.GBS neonatal infection typically originates in the lower reproductive tract of infected mothers. GBS infections in newborns are separated into two clinical syndromes, early-onset disease (EOD) and late-onset disease (LOD). EOD manifests from 0 to 7 living days in the newborn, most of the cases of EOD being apparent within 24h of birth.