20 



THE ACTINOMYCETES, Vol. II 



Habitat: Human saliva in deep dental 

 caries. 



Remarks: This organism resembles .4. 

 bovis in its life cycle. 



Incompletely Described Forms of Ac- 

 tinomyces 



In addition to the above well described 

 and readily recognizable forms belonging to 

 the genus Actinomyces, numerous other an- 

 aerobic organisms have been listed in the 

 literature. Some of these organisms are no 

 doubt strains of the well described forms and 

 their names would be in synonymy. Others 

 may represent distinct species. 



It is of particular interest to cite, in this 

 connection, the ideas of Prevot (1957), who 



considered Actinomyces bovis as an aerobic 

 organism and, therefore, the genus Actino- 

 myces as an aerobic group. He suggested 

 I ha I Actinomyces israelii represent the an- 

 aerobic group, and the generic name Actino- 

 bacterium Haas, 1906 (Syn. Cohnistrepto- 

 thrix Pinoy, 1913) be given priority for desig- 

 nating the anaerobic forms. Prevot (1957) 

 divided the genus Actinobacterium into six 

 species: (1) ^4. israelii, (2) A. meyeri, (3) A. 

 abscessus, (4) .4. liquefaciens, (5) .4. cellu- 

 litis, and (6) A. propionici. 



In addition to the above, numerous other 

 anaerobic forms have been described, such 

 as A. canis Levy, 1899; A. inter proximalis 

 Fennel, 1918; and others. Some additional 

 names will be found in Chapter 13. 



