Environmental isolates of S. marcescens characteristically
produce a red pigment, prodigiosin, and in early
times such growth was often mistaken for fresh blood
[2]. The pigmented bacterium is found in various
ecological niches, including soil, water, air, plants and
animals [12]. The ability to form prodigiosin is
characteristic of S. marcescens [12], but the hnction
of this red pigment remains unclear because clinical
isolates are rarely pigmented.