Editing Streptococcus (section)

===Alpha-hemolytic===
When [[alpha-hemolysis]] (α-hemolysis) is present, the agar under the colony will appear dark and greenish due to the conversion of hemoglobin to green [[biliverdin]]. ''Streptococcus pneumoniae'' and a group of oral streptococci (''Streptococcus viridans'' or viridans streptococci) display alpha-hemolysis.
Alpha-hemolysis is also termed incomplete hemolysis or partial hemolysis because the cell membranes of the red blood cells are left intact. This is also sometimes called green hemolysis because of the color change in the agar.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

====Pneumococci====
* ''[[Streptococcus pneumoniae|S. pneumoniae]]'' (sometimes called pneumococcus), is a leading cause of bacterial [[pneumonia]] and the occasional etiology of [[otitis media]], [[sinusitis]], [[meningitis]], and [[peritonitis]].  Inflammation is thought to be the major cause of how pneumococci cause disease, hence the tendency of diagnoses associated with them to involve inflammation. They possess no Lancefield antigens.<ref name="Sherris" />

====The viridans group: alpha-hemolytic====
* The [[viridans streptococci]] are a large group of [[commensal]] bacteria that are either [[alpha-hemolytic]], producing a green coloration on blood [[agar plates]] (hence the name "viridans", from Latin ''vĭrĭdis'', green), or nonhemolytic.  They possess no Lancefield antigens.<ref name="Sherris">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/sherrismedicalmi0000unse |title=Sherris Medical Microbiology |publisher=Appleton & Lange |year=1994 |isbn=0-8385-8541-8 |veditors=Ryan KJ, Sherris JC |edition=3rd |pages=[https://archive.org/details/sherrismedicalmi0000unse/page/266 266]–7 |url-access=limited}}</ref>