Final answer:
Bordetella pertussis is an obligate aerobe, meaning it requires oxygen to grow and is the bacterium responsible for causing whooping cough.
Step-by-step explanation:
Bordetella pertussis, the causative agent of pertussis or whooping cough, is a bacterium from the order Burkholderiales and the class Betaproteobacteria. This gram-negative coccobacillus is known to produce several toxins that paralyze ciliary motion in the respiratory tract and damage respiratory cells, leading to the characteristic severe cough associated with the infection. As part of the Betaproteobacteria, Bordetella pertussis requires oxygen for survival and is therefore an obligate aerobe, which means it relies on oxygen for its metabolic processes and cannot grow without it.