Aerococcus is a genus in the phylum Bacillota (Bacteria).^[1] The genus was first identified in 1953 from samples of air and dust as a catalase-negative, gram-positive coccus that grew in small clusters.^[2] They were subsequently found in hospital environments and meat-curing brines.^[3] It has been difficult to identify as it resembles alpha-hemolytic Streptococcus on blood agar plates and is difficult to identify by biochemical means.^[4] Sequencing of 16S rRNA has become the gold standard for identification, but other techniques such as MALDI-TOF have also been useful for identifying both the genus and species.^[4]

The name Aerococcus derives from the Greek aer, aeros (ἀήρ, ἀέρος), air; Neo-Latin coccus (from Greekkokkos (κόκκος)), a berry; Neo-Latin Aerococcus, air coccus.^[5] The name was given based on its round shape and that it was first discovered in air samples.^[2]

The genus contains these species:^[5]

• A. christensenii Collins et al., 1999, named after the Danish microbiologist Jens J. Christensen^[6]
• A. sanguinicola Lawson et al., 2001 (from the Latin for blood-dweller)^[7]
• A. suis Vela et al., 2007 (Latin for "of a hog")^[8]
• A. urinae Aguirre & Collins, 1992 (Latin for "of urine")^[9]
• A. urinaeequi (Garvie, 1988) Felis et al., 2005 (Latin for "of the urine of a horse", source of isolation of the type strain)^[10]
• A. urinaehominis Lawson et al., 2001 (Latin for "of the urine of a human", source of isolation of the type strain)^[11]
• A. viridans Williams et al., 1953 – type species of the genus (Latin for "making green", producing a green color).^[12] Causative agent of gaffkaemia, a disease of lobsters.^[13]

• Bacterial taxonomy
• Microbiology