SPECIES OF NOCARDIA 157 



Antagonistic properties: Positive. 



Source: A case of mycetoma of a foot in South Africa. 



38. Nocardia pelletieri (Laveran) comb. nov. (Laveran, S., Compt. 

 Rend. Soc. Biol., 61, 1906, 340.) 



Mycelium: Composed of slender, straight, and not very long filaments 

 forming small, dense, pink colonies with a few short, straight, isolated 

 aerial branches. 



Nutrient agar: Minute, colorless colonies and piled-up, pale pink masses. 



Glucose agar: Poor growth; a few minute, pink colonies. 



Potato: After 1 month, growth sparse, yellowish pink, irregularly piled 

 up, portions with scant white aerial mycelium; after 6 months, abundant, 

 highly piled up, small, rounded, pink masses, scant white aerial mycelium 

 persistent. 



Gelatin: Slight liquefaction; few pink flakes; later almost completely 

 liquefied. 



Milk: Soft curd; half -digested; peptonization complete in 20 days. 



Nutrient broth: Small, minute, pink, clustered colonies. 



Glycerol agar: Poor growth; a few moist, pink colonies. 



Potato agar: Colorless blister colonies; after 3 weeks, colonies larger, 

 showing concentric zones, submerged margins, and occasional zone or 

 tuft of white aerial mycelium, pinkish coloration. 



Blood agar: At first a few pinhead, cream-colored colonies, no hemolysis; 

 later, colonies dense, button-shaped, with narrow, fringed margin. 



Dorset's egg medium: Abundant, wrinkled, pink skin with small dis- 

 crete colonies at margin in 6 days; later, surface rough, mealy; considerable 

 liquefaction in 17 days. 



Calcium agar: Colorless, small colonies; after 1 week, confluent skin, pink, 

 buckled; medium discolored later. 



Serum agar: Moist, cream-colored growth tending to be heaped up, dis- 

 crete colonies at margin; becoming umbilicated. 



Source: A case of crimson-grained mycetoma in Nigeria. 



Remarks: Thiroux and Pelletier (Bull. Soc. Pathol. Exotique, 5, 1912, 

 585) considered that their cultures resembled Nocardia madurae, but they 

 grew the organism only on Sabouraud's gelatin, on which it appeared in a 

 constantly red, easily detachable form. Nocardia indica was regarded as 

 identical by Pinoy, although in the original description by Laveran the 

 organism was called Micrococcus pelletieri, because no mycelium was seen, 

 merely coccoid bodies. Nocardia genesii Froes (Bull. Inst. Pasteur, 29, 

 1931, 1158) is described as closely allied, the distinction being founded upon 

 the fact that the red grains were smaller and much more numerous, but no 

 cultural details are given. 



