:;i 



THE ACTIXOMYCETES, Vol. II 



well have been included among the Nucardia 

 forms. It is also possible some of those listed 

 as Nocardia could just as readily have been 

 included in the genus Streptomyces. Fre- 

 quently, the decision of the investigator as 

 to whether a certain culture should be in- 

 cluded in one genus or another was perfectly 

 arbitrary. 



Descriptions of Nocardia Species* 



1. Nocardia actinomorpha (Gray and 

 Thornton, 1928) Waksman and Henrici, 

 1948 (Gray, P. and Thornton, H. Centrl. 

 Bacteriol. Abt, II, 73: 88, 1928). 



Morphology: Growth colorless, smooth, 

 consisting of long, branching filaments and 

 rods, 0.5 to 0.8 by up to 10 m- In older cul- 

 tures, rods 2 to 3 fi long generally predomi- 

 nate. On some media, extensively branching 

 hyphae occur. Not acid-fast . 



Nutrient agar: Round colonies, 1 mm in 

 diameter, convex, white, granular or resin- 

 ous; long arborescent processes from the 

 edge. No aerial mycelium. 



Potato-glycerol agar: Growth dry, 

 wrinkled, pink to orange. 



Egg medium: Growth raised, dry, smooth, 

 salmon-buff. 



Gelatin: Colonies round, saucer-like, 

 white, raised rim, edges burred. Liquefaci ion 

 positive. 



Nutrient broth: Turbid. 



Milk: Coagulation and peptonization. 



Starch: Hydrolyzed (diastase produced). 



Sucrose: Inverted. 



Nitrate reduction: Positive. 



Phenol and naphthalene: Utilized. 



Temperature: Optimum 25 30°C. 



Source: Soil. 



Remarks: Differs from N. coeliaca in 

 liquefaction of gelatin. No acid from glucose, 

 lactose, sucrose, or glycerol. 



2. Nocardia africana Pijper and Pullinger, 



* For further details concerning some of the 

 species, the last edition of the Bergey Manual 

 should he consulted. 



1927 (Pijper, A. and Pullinger, B. D. J. 

 Trop. Med. Hyg. 30: 153-156, 1927). 



Synonym: Actinomyces africanus (Pijper 

 and Pullinger) Nannizzi Pollacci, 1934. 



Morphology: Substrate growth consists of 

 unicellular branching mycelium. Aerial my- 

 celium sparse, consisting of short, straight 

 hyphae. Not acid-fast. 



Glucose agar: Colonies minute, red, dis- 

 crete, round and piled up into a pale pink 

 mass. Aerial mycelium thin, white. 



Nutrient agar: Colonies discoid, flat, pink. 



Glycerol agar: Growth made up of small, 

 heaped-up, colorless masses with pink tinge; 

 later, growth abundant, piled up, pale pink. 



Potato agar: Growth bright red, made up 

 of small, round colonies with colorless sub- 

 merged margins, and piled up patches. Aerial 

 mycelium stiff, sparse, white. 



Egg medium: Colonies small, colorless, 

 blister, partly confluent; becoming wrinkled, 

 depressed into medium. Liquefaction slight. 



Gelatin: Irregular pink flakes. No liquefac- 

 tion. 



Milk: Surface growth bright red. Medium 

 gradually becomes opaque, reddish-purple, 

 with slow peptonization. 



Source: A case of mycetoma in South 

 Africa. 



3. Nocardia alba (Krassilnikov, 1941) 

 Waksman (Krassilnikov, N. A. Actinomyce- 

 tales. Izvest. Akad. Nauk. SSSR, Moskau, 

 1941, p. 1). 



Morphology: Growth smooth or folded, 

 made up of white colonies of a dough-like 

 consistency; shiny or pale. Substrate myce- 

 lium breaks up into short rods 2.7 by 0.7 to 

 0.8 n, later changing into a mass of coccus- 

 like cells, 0.7 to 1 ij.. Many cells are swollen, 

 others form side buds. Not acid-fast. No 

 aerial mycelium. 



Synthetic agar: Inorganic salts used as 

 sources of nitrogen; sugar, starch, or organic, 

 acids utilized as sources of carbon. 



Nutrient agar: Good growth. No aerial 

 mycelium. 



