344 



ORDER IV. EUBACTERIALES 



produced in Eijkmann test when carried 

 out at 45° to 46° C. (Levine, Epstein and 

 Vaughn, op. cit., 1934, 505). 



Comments: In the original description of 

 this species, Jordan (op. cit., 1890, 836) 

 makes no report of the action of this or- 

 ganism on sugars. The cultures used by Th. 

 Smith (The Fermentation Tube, 1893, 215) 

 produced acid and gas actively from glucose 



and sucrose and less actively from lactose. 

 The ratio of hydrogen to carbon dioxide, as 

 determined by Smith, was approximately 

 1:2. 



Source: Isolated from sewage from the 

 Lawrence Experiment Station, Massa- 

 chusetts. 



Habitat: Found in human and other 

 animal feces and in sewage, soil and water. 



Genus III. Klebsiella Trevisan, 1885.* 



(Atti della accad. Fisio-Medico-Statistica in Milano, Ser. 4, S, 1885, 105.) 



Kleb.si.el'la. M.L. dim. ending -ella; M.L. fem.n. Klebsiella named for Edwin Klebs 

 (1834-1913), an early German bacteriologist. 



Short rods, somewhat plump with rounded ends, occurring mostly singly. Encapsulated 

 in the mucoid phase. Non-motile. Gram-negative. Gelatin not liquefied. Fermentation 

 reactions are variable, but usually a number of carbohydrates are fermented. Acetj'lmethyl- 

 carbinol may or may not be produced. Nitrites are produced from nitrates. Aerobic, growing 

 well on ordinary culture media. Encountered frequently in the respiratory, intestinal and 

 urogenital tracts of man, but these organisms may be isolated from a variety of animals and 

 materials. 



The type species is Klebsiella pneumoniae (Schroeter) Trevisan. 



Key to the species of genus Klebsiella. 



I. Acetylmethylcarbinol produced. Frequently associated with acute inflammations of 

 the respiratory tract. 



1. Klebsiella pneumoniae. 



II. Acetylmethylcarbinol not produced. Frequently associated with nasal infections. 



A. Acid and gas usually produced from glucose. Found associated with ozena and other 

 chronic diseases of the respiratory tract. 



2. Klebsiella ozaenae. 



B. Usually acid but no gas from glucose. Found associated with rhinoscleroma. 



3. Klebsiella rhinoscleromatis . 



1. Klebsiella pneumoniae (Schroeter, 

 1886) Trevisan, 1887. (Pneumoniecoccus, 

 Friedlander, Arch. f. path. Anat., 87, 1882, 

 319; Bacterium pneumonie crouposae Zopf, 

 Die Spaltpilze, 3 Aufl., 1885, 66; Klebsiella 

 crouposa Trevisan, Atti della Accad. Fisio- 

 Medico-Statistica in Milano, Ser. 4, 3, 1885, 

 105; Hyalococcus pneumoniae Schroeter, in 

 Cohn, Kryptogamen-Flora von Schlesien, 

 3(1), 1886, 152; Bacillus pneumoniae Fliigge, 

 Die Mikroorganismen, 2 Aufl., 1886, 204; 

 Trevisan, Rend. d. R. Istit. Lombardo, 

 Ser. 2, 20, 1887, 94.) 



pneu.mo'ni.ae. Gr. noun pneumonia 



inflammation of the lungs, pneumonia; 

 M.L. gen.noun pneumoniae of pneumonia. 



Common name: Friedlander 's bacillus; 

 pneumobacillus. 



Rods, 0.3 to 0.5 by 5.0 microns, often 4 to 

 5 times as long as broad, with rounded ends, 

 occurring singly and in pairs. Encapsulated. 

 Non -motile. Gram-negative. 



Gelatin colonies: Dirty white, smooth, 

 opaque, entire, slightly raised. 



Gelatin stab: Dirty white surface growth. 

 Filiform growth in stab. Gas bubbles are 

 produced. No liquefaction. 



* Prepared by Prof. Robert S. Breed, Cornell University, Geneva, New York, in consulta- 

 tion with investigators who have made special studies of this genus, October, 1955. 



