Staphylococcus capitis

**Semantic type:** Bacterium

**Definition:** A species of facultatively anaerobic, Gram positive, cocci shaped bacteria in the phylum Firmicutes. This species is catalase positive, and negative for alkaline phosphatase, urease, oxidase and coagulase. It is able to ferment glucose, fructose, lactose, trehalose, glycerol, and mannitol, but not arabinose, sucrose, xylose, turanose, xylitol, rhamnose, or maltose. S. capitis is part of the human skin flora but is a pathogen that can cause pneumonia, urinary tract infection, catheter related bacteremia, cellulitis, and endocarditis.

**Synonyms:** - STAPHYLOCOCCUS CAPITIS