FAMILY V. BRUCELLACEAE 



419 



Pleomorphic rods, 1 to 2 microns in length, 

 with rounded ends, occurring singlj^ and in 

 clusters. Intracellular forms are usually 

 encapsulated. Non-motile. Gram-negative. 



Originally this organism was described as 

 being non-cultivable on ordinary media; 

 lately, however, it has been shown by 

 Dunham and Rake (Amer. Jour. Syphilis, 

 Gonorrhea and Venereal Diseases, 32, 1948, 

 145) and b}^ Rake and Oskaj^ (Jour. Bact., 

 55, 1948, 667) that, after adaptation, growth 

 can be effected on artificial media. 



Chick embryo : Grows readily in yolk sac 

 and feebly in amniotic fluid of developing 

 chick embryo. 



Embryonic j^olk medium: Growth occurs. 



Levinthal beef heart infusion agar colo- 

 nies (after adaptation) : At first shiny and 



translucent, increasing in size until the 

 larger colonies measure 1.5 mm in diam- 

 eter; gradually become gray, later brownish 

 (Rake and Oskay, ibid., 668). 



Distinctive characters : Encapsulated 

 forms readily demonstrated by means of 

 Wright's stain as blue bacillary bodies sur- 

 rounded by well defined, dense, pinkish 

 capsules. Non-encapsulated forms are vari- 

 able in morphology. Characteristic safety- 

 pin forms may be demonstrated. 



Not pathogenic for the common experi- 

 mental animals. 



Source: Isolated from granulomatous 

 lesions of man. 



Habitat: Human lesions. The cause of 

 granuloma inguinale. 



Genus VII. Moraxella Lwoff, 1939.* 



(Z)zp?o6aci7Z?^s McNab, Klinische Monatsbl. f. Augenheilk., 4^, 1904, 65; not Diplobacillus 

 Weichselbaum, Cent. f. Bakt., 2, 1887, 212; Lwoff, Ann. Inst. Past., 62, 1939, 168.) 



Mo.rax.el'la. M.L. dim. ending -ella; M.L. fem.n. Moraxella named for V. Morax, the 

 bacteriologist who first isolated the type species of this genus. 



Small, short, rod-shaped cells which occur as diplobacilli and which are sometimes de- 

 scribed as diplococci; occasionally occur singly. Non-motile. Gram-negative. Do not re- 

 quire V (phosphopyridine nucleotide) or X (hemin) factors for growth; growth is, however, 

 dependent upon or improved with the addition of serum or ascitic fluid. Litmus milk is 

 unchanged or becomes alkaline. Carbohydrates generally not attacked. Activelj^ proteo- 

 lytic, liquefying inspissated blood serum and even egg media. Oxidase-positive. Aerobic. 

 Found as parasites and pathogens in warm-blooded animals, being especially found in 

 association with diseases of the eye. 



The type species is Moraxella lacunata (Eyre) Lwoff. 



Key to the species of genus Moraxella. 



I. Does not grow in gelatin. 



1. Moraxella lacunata. 

 II. Grow in gelatin. 



A. Gelatin readily liquefied. No change in litmus milk. 



2. Moraxella liguefaciens . 



B. Gelatin slowly liquefied. Litmus milk becomes alkaline with partial coagulation. 



3. Moraxella bovis. 



1. Moraxella lacunata (Eyre, 1899) 

 Lwoff, 1939. (Diplobacille de la conjuncti- 

 vite subaigue, Morax, Ann. Inst. Past., 10, 



1896, 337; Diplobacillus of chronic conjunc- 

 tivitis, Axenfeld, Cent. f. Bakt., I Abt., 21, 



1897, 1; Bacterixnn conjunctivitis Chester, 



Ann. Rept. Del. Col. Agr. Exp. Sta., 9, 1897, 

 66; not Bacterium conjunctivitis Chester, 

 ibid., 67; Bacillus lacjinatus Eyre, Jour. 

 Path, and Bact., 6, 1899, 5; not Bacillus 

 lacunatus Wright, Memoirs Nat. Acad. Sci., 

 7, 1895, 435; Bacterium duplex Lehmann and 



* Revised bj' Prof. E. G. D. Murray, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada, 

 April, 1955. 



