The colonies are amber in color (under certain lighting) and look like mucus. Cultivation on brain heart infusion agar, 48 hours in an aerobic
atmosphere, 37°C.
Microscopy: Gram-positive cocci in chains.
Hyaluronate (hyaluronic acid)
Hyaluronic acid is a component of extracellular capsule of some beta-hemolytic streptococci (group A and C).
The same compound is distributed widely throughout connective, epithelial, and neural tissues in humans and animals. It is unique among glycosaminoglycans in that it is nonsulfated, forms in the plasma membrane instead of the Golgi, and can be very large, with its molecular weight often reaching the millions.
It is one of the chief components of the extracellular matrix.
The first commercially fermented hyaluronic acid was produced from Streptococcus equi ssp. zooepidemicus, which remains the current common strain in the industrial production of hyaluronate.
