FAMILY IV. ENTEROBACTERIACEAE 



367 



bacteriologist who first studied this organ- 

 ism. 



Common name: Morgan's bacillus, type 1. 



Rods, 0.4 to 0.6 by 1.0 to 2.0 microns, oc- 

 curring singlj'. Motile by means of peri- 

 trichous flagella. See Rauss (loc. cit.) for a 

 discussion of flagellation and its relation to 

 the swarming characteristic. Gram-nega- 

 tive. 



Gelatin colonies: Bluish gray, homogene- 

 ous, smooth, entire. 



Gelatin stab: No liquefaction. 



Agar colonies: Grayish white, smooth, 

 glistening growth. May show a tendency to 

 spread somewhat on moist agar. 



Broth: Turbid. 



Litmus milk: Neutral or becoming alka- 

 line. 



Potato: Dirty white, limited growth. 



Indole is produced. 



Hydrogen sulfide not produced. 



Acid and a small amount of gas from 

 glucose, fructose, galactose and mannose; 

 rarely from xylose. Does not attack lactose, 

 sucrose, maltose, arabinose, raffinose, dex- 

 trin, salicin, mannitol, dulcitol, sorbitol, 

 adonitol or inositol. 



Acetylmethylcarbinol not produced. 



Sodium citrate not utilized as a sole source 

 of carbon. 



Nitrites are produced from nitrates. 



Phenylpyruvic acid is produced from 

 phenylalanine, and leucine is rendered alka- 

 line. 



Aerobic, facultatively anaerobic. 



Optimum temperature, 37° C. 



Source: Isolated from the feces of infants 

 with summer diarrhoea. 



Habitat: Found in the intestinal canal 

 and in normal or diarrhoeal stools. 



4. Proteus rettgeri (Hadley et al., 1918) 

 Rustigian and Stuart, 1943. {Bacterium 

 rettgeri Hadley, Elkins and Caldwell, Rhode 

 Island Agr. Exp. Sta. Bull. 174, 1918, 169; 

 Shigella rettgeri Weldin, Iowa State Coll. 

 Jour. Sci., 1, 1927, 181; Proteus entericus 

 Rustigian and Stuart, Jour. Bact., 45, 1943, 

 198; Rustigian and Stuart, Proc. Soc. Exp. 

 Biol, and Med., 53, 1943, 241.) 



rett'ge.ri. M.L. gen. noun rettgeri of 

 Rettger; named for L. F. Rettger, the Amer- 



ican bacteriologist who, in 1904, isolated 

 this species. 



Rods, 0.5 to 0.8 micron long, occurring 

 singly, in pairs and occasionally in chains. 

 Usually non-motile at 37° C, but actively 

 motile variants possessing peritrichous 

 flagella can be obtained at 25° C. Gram- 

 negative. 



Gelatin colonies: Small, grayish, trans- 

 lucent, entire. 



Gelatin stab: No liquefaction. 



Agar colonies: Small, grayish, trans- 

 lucent, entire. May show a tendency to 

 spread on moist agar. 



Agar slant: Filiform to echinulate, gray- 

 ish, thin, moist, translucent growth. 



Broth: Turbid; flocculent to viscid sedi- 

 ment. 



Litmus milk: Alkaline in eight days, be- 

 coming tran.slucent. 



Potato: Luxuriant, grayish growth. 



Indole is produced. 



Hydrogen sulfide not produced. 



Acid and occasionally slight gas from 

 glucose, fructose, galactose, adonitol and 

 mannitol. Salicin, inositol and rhamnose 

 may or may not be fermented. Slow and 

 sometimes weak acid from sucrose. Lactose 

 and maltose are not fermented. 



Acetylmethylcarbinol is not produced. 



Sodium citrate is utilized as a sole source 

 of carbon. 



Nitrites are produced from nitrates. 



Phenylpyruvic acid is produced from 

 phenylalanine, and leucine is rendered alka- 

 line. 



Aerobic, facultatively anaerobic. 



Optimum temperature, 37° C. 



Source : Originally isolated from a cholera- 

 like epidemic among chickens; recently 

 isolated from sporadic and epidemic gastro- 

 enteritis patients. 



Habitat: Found in fecal matter. 



5. Proteus inconstans (Ornstein, 1921) 

 Shaw and Clarke, 1955. (Bacillus inconstans 

 Ornstein, Ztschr. f. Hyg., 91, 1921, 152; 

 Anaerogenic paracolon, type 29911, Stuart, 

 Wheeler, Rustigian and Zimmerman, Jour. 

 Bact., 45, 1943, 111; also see Stuart, Wheeler 

 and McGann, Jour. Bact., 53, 1946, 431; 

 Providence Group, Kauffmann, Entero- 

 bacteriaceae. Munksgaard, Copenhagen, 



