[3][4][5] Lautropia mirabilis is a gram-negative, polymorphic, motile, coccoid bacteria,[6] that is most commonly found in the human oral cavity and the upper respiratory tract.
However, its status as a unique species was not proposed until 1994, when it was rediscovered in samples from the gingival margins of healthy human patients.
When grown in a broth culture, granules are typically observed loosely adhering to the side of the tube.
The first, a capsulated cocci approximately 1 to 2 μm in diameter, is the most common morphology, independent of the age of the culture.
L. mirabilis has been isolated from the cavities of children infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus [8] and the sputum of cystic fibrosis patients.
The linear DNA genome of Lautropia mirabilis type strain ATCC 51599 is completely sequenced.
[6] This genome size is small compared to other species in the same order, like Burkholderiales, which may account for its symbiont relationship with humans.
The presence of L. mirabilis has been linked to HIV-positive children as well as the sputum of one cystic fibrosis patient.
The use of antibiotics has shown to effectively reduce the growth of the bacteria inside the oral cavity.
There have been, however, a number of recent studies that identified the bacteria in healthy patients without periodontitis and gingivitis.