FAMILY IV. PSEUDOMONADACEAE 



197 



4. Photobacteriuni harveyi (Johnson 

 and Shunk, 1936) Breed and Lessel, 1954. 

 (Achro)nobacter harveyi Johnson and Shunk, 

 Jour. Bact., 31, 1936, 587; Breed and Lessel, 

 Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, 20, 1954, 61.) 



har'vey.i. M.L. gen. noun harveyi of 

 Harvey; named for E. N. HarveJ^ 



Description taken from Johnson and 

 Shunk (op. cif., 1936, 587). 



Rods, .0.5 to 1.0 by 1.2 to 2.5 microns, 

 occurring singly or in pairs, with rounded 

 ends. Occasionally slightly curved; ends 

 occasionally slightly pointed. Non-spore- 

 forming. Not encapsulated. Motile by 

 means of a single, polar flagellum 2 to 3 

 times the length of the cell. Gram-negative. 



Sea-water gelatin colonies: After 24 

 hours at 20° C, circular, about 1.5 mm in 

 diameter or larger, margin slightly undu- 

 late, sunken due to the beginning of lique- 

 faction, interior somewhat zonate; colonies 

 surrounded by a halo of numerous small 

 secondary colonies, circular and finely 

 granular. In crowded plates a large number 

 of gas bubbles are formed. Luminescent. 



Sea-water gelatin stab: Rapid saccate 

 liquefaction complete in 5 daj^s at 22° C. 

 Abundant flocculent sediment. 



Sea-water agar colonies: Mostly very 

 large, 6 to 8 cm in diameter in 24 hours, flat, 

 highly iridescent, circular with undulate 

 margin, or composed of narrow and close or 

 wide filamentous growth. Occasionally 

 small colonies appear that are circular, with 

 entire or slightly undulate margin, often 

 producing irregular secondary growth, sur- 

 face always smooth. Luminescent. 



Sea-water agar slant: Growth abundant, 

 spreading, grayishly viscous, homogeneous, 

 iridescent, the medium becoming rapidly 

 alkaline w^hen inoculated at an initial pH 

 of 7.0. With fish decoctions added to the 

 medium, luminescence is much brighter 

 and growth becomes brownish after several 

 days. 



Growth on autoclaved fish: Abundant, 

 smooth, glistening, yellowish, becoming 

 dirty brown after several days. Mild putre- 

 factive odor. Luminescence very brilliant. 



Sea water containing 0.2 per cent peptone : 

 Abundant uniform turbidity, thin pellicle, 

 sediment accumulating over a period of 



several days. Luminescence at surface only 

 unless the tube is shaken. 



Milk, with or without the addition of 2.8 

 per cent salt: No growth. 



Potato plugs resting on cotton saturated 

 with sea water: Growth slight, somewhat 

 spreading, slightly brownish. Luminous. 



Indole produced (Gore's method). 



Hydrogen sulfide is produced (ZoBell 

 and Fantham method). 



Fixed acid from glucose, fructose, man- 

 nose, galactose, sucrose, maltose, mannitol, 

 dextrin, glycogen, trehalose, cellobiose; 

 slowly from salicin. Non-fixed acid from 

 melezitose; slight acid from sorbitol, disap- 

 pearing in 24 hours. No acid from glycerol, 

 xylose, arabinose, dulcitol, inositol, adoni- 

 tol, erythritol, arabitol, lactose, raffinose, 

 rhamnose, fucose or alpha methyl glucoside. 



Starch agar: Wide zone of hydrolysis. 



Nitrites produced from nitrates. 



Ammonia produced in peptone media 

 (Hansen method). 



Aerobic, facultatively anaerobic. 



Temperature relations: Optimum, be- 

 tween 35° and 39° C. Abundant growth be- 

 tween 22° and 25° C. 



Optimum temperature for luminescence, 

 between 20° and 40° C. 



Optimum pH for luminescence, between 

 pH 7.4 and 7.8. 



Quality of luminescence (to completely 

 dark-adapted eyes) : Yellowish green to 

 green on fish and typically green on sea- 

 water agar or gelatin. 



Not pathogenic for white rats or amphi- 

 pods. 



Distinctive character: Luminescence not 

 favored by the presence of glycerol in the 

 medium. 



Source: Isolated from a dead amphipod 

 (Talorchesda sp.) at Woods Hole, Massa- 

 chusetts. 



Habitat: Sea water. 



Note: Species incertae sedis. Additional 

 luminescent bacteria which probably be- 

 long in this genus have been reported in 

 the literature. However many of the de- 

 scriptions are not adequate enough to 

 permit the determination of the identity 

 and relationships of these organisms. 



