ACTINOMYCES MADURM 383 



Glucose Agar Shake. — 5 days at 37° C. No growth for 1 cm. below surface. Then comes 

 a turbid band, about 0-8 mm. deep, consisting of large numbers of tiny colonies. 

 Throughout the rest of the medium are scattered discrete, irregularly round, opaque, 

 greyish-white colonies, about 0-1 -1-0 mm. in diameter, with smooth or sUghtly 

 knobby surface. 



Loeffler^s Serum. — 7 days at 37° C. anaerohically. Moderate, partly confluent, raised, 

 shiny growth of low convex, rounded colonies about 0-5 mm. in diameter. No 

 liquefaction. 



Glycerol Egg. — 14 days at 37° C. anaerohically. Poor, shghtly raised, confluent growth 

 with finely granular surface due to imperfect fusion of colonies. No liquefaction. 



MacConkey. — No growth in either sohd or Uquid medium. 



Potato. — 14 days at 37° C. anaerohically. Very poor growth of discrete, round, 1 mm. 

 in diameter, whitish low convex colonies with smooth glistening surface and entire 

 edge. 



Resistance.- — At 37° C. cultures live for about 1 to 4 weeks, sometimes longer. Dried on 

 glass and kept in the dark, organisms may live for 7 weeks or more. Killed by 

 moist heat at 60° C. in 16 minutes. 



Metaholism. — Anaerobe of the microaerophilic type. WiU not grow on surface culture 

 exposed to the air. Optimum temperature for growth 37° C. ; growth below 

 30° C. is either very sUght or absent. Optimum pH 7-3-7-6. No haemolysis of 

 horse red cells. No pigment formation. Growth is improved by nitrates, glycerol, 

 blood, an increased partial pressure of COg, and sometimes by glucose. 



Biochemical. — Acid, no gas, in glucose, maltose, mannitol, lactose, sucrose, and sahcin 

 within 21 days under anaerobic conditions. L.M. acid. Indole — ; M.R. — ; 

 V.P. — ; Nitrate reduction + + ; HgS — ; NH3 + ; M.B. reduction — ; Cata- 

 lase — . 



Antigenic structure. — Two groups distinguishable by agglutination, one containing strains 

 of human, the other of bovine origin. 



Pathogenicity. — Responsible for actinomycosis in man and cattle. Very slight patho- 

 genicity for laboratory animals. Intraperitoneal inoculation of a broth culture 

 into a rabbit or guinea-pig may be followed by appearance of small nodules, chiefly 

 in the great omentum, containing the typical clubbed colonies of Actinomyces. 

 The animals live indefinitely. 



Actinomyces madurae 



Isolation. — Isolated from pale variety of Madura foot by Vincent in 1894. Called by him 



Streptothrix madurce. 

 Habitat. — Found in pale variety of Madura foot. Saprophytic existence probable, but 



not demonstrated. 

 Morphology. — Glycerol agar, 14 days at 37° C. Long, non-segmented filaments, -4-0 -6 /t 



thick, showing true and false branching ; sides parallel, ends often tapering. 



Arranged in a mycelium ; sometimes aggregated into dense masses. Stain evenly. 



Later fragmentation may occur with production of ovoid bodies. Non-motile. 



Gram-positive. Non-acid-fast. 

 Agar Plate. — 5 days at 37° C. Small, round, convex colonies about 0-5 mm. in diameter. 



14 days, larger, 1-3 mm. in diameter, greyish-yellow, opaque, irregularly heaped- 



up, nodular, umbonate colonies, resembling worm casts, which have a smooth 



gUstening surface. Very adherent to medium ; consistency horny ; very difficult 



to emulsify. Whole colony looks hke a rosette. 

 Agar Slope. — 7 days at 37° C. Poor growth of discrete, dull, greyish-white opaque 



irregularly heaped-up colonies with nodular surface. 

 Gelatin Stab. — 14 days at 20° C. Moderate, filiform growth consisting mostly of small, 



discrete, greyish-white colonies, having a darker centre and a Ughter feathery 



