FAMILY VI. BACTEROIDACEAE 



439 



Nitrites not produced from nitrates. 



Anaerobic. 



Temperature relations: Optimum, 37° C; 

 growth range, 31° to 43° C. (Hoffman, Oral 

 Surg., 5, 1952, 1088). Survives 50° C. for 15 

 minutes, 52° C. for 10 minutes and 56° C. 

 for 5 minutes (Hine and Berry) . 



Optimum pH, between 7.0 and 8.2 (Hau- 

 duroy et al., Diet. d. Bact. Path., 1953, 

 259); between 6.9 and 7.7 (Hoffman, op. 

 cit., 1952, 1088). 



Non-pathogenic for guinea pigs and mice. 



Source : One strain was isolated from a de- 

 posit on teeth in a case of gingivitis (Knorr) ; 

 also isolated from gingival crevices in nor- 

 mal mouths, from cases with deep caries, 

 inflamed areas around crowns and fillings, 

 pyorrhetic pockets, Vincent's infection and 

 from the mouths of three monkeys and two 

 rabbits (Hine and Berry) ; also found in a 

 case of acute appendicitis (Prevot and 

 Peyre). 



Habitat: Presumably the buccal cavity. 



3. Fusobacteriuin praeacutum (Tis- 



sier, 1908) Hoffman, comh. nov. {Coccobacil- 

 lus praeacutus Tissier, Ann. Inst. Past., 

 22, 1908, 189; Zuberella praeacuta Prevot, 

 Ann. Inst. Past., 60, 1938, 293.) 



prae.a.cu'tum. L. pref. prae very, quite; 

 L. adj. acuiiis sharp; ]M.L. adj. praeacutus 

 quite sharp. 



Short rods, with pointed ends, occurring 

 singly and in chains. Sw^ollen forms present 

 in old cultures. Motile by means of peri- 

 trichous flagella. Gram-negative. 



Gelatin: No liquefaction. 



Agar: Deep colonies lenticular. Abun- 

 dant gas production. 



Broth: Turbid with powdery precipitate. 



Milk: Unchanged. 



Coagulated egg white: Not digested. 



Milk fats are saponified. 



Indole not produced. 



Acid from glucose. No acid or gas from 

 lactose or sucrose. 



Anaerobic. 



Optimum temperature, between 22° and 

 37° C. 



Not pathogenic. 



Source: Isolated from the intestines of 

 infants. 



Habitat: Found in the intestinal tract 

 of man. 



4. Fusobacteriuni nucleatum Knorr, 

 1923. (Cent. f. Bakt., I Abt., Orig., 89, 

 1923, 17.) 



nu.cle.a'tum. L. adj. nucleatus having a 

 kernel, nucleated. 



Original description supplemented by 

 material taken from Hine and Berry (Jour. 

 Bact., 34, 1937, 520) and from Robin (Ann. 

 Inst. Past., 74, 1948, 259). 



Spindle-shaped rods, 1 by 4 microns, 

 occurring singly and often in pairs. One or 

 two granules are present. Non-motile. 

 Gram-negative. 



Disagreeable odor produced on cultiva- 

 tion; no gas is produced. 



Gelatin: No liquefaction. 



Plain agar: Scant growth. 



Meat infusion agar: Good growth. 



Serum agar plate: Deep colonies lens- 

 shaped with offshoots. 



Rabbit blood (5 per cent) agar colonies: 

 Round, 0.5 to 1.0 mm in diameter, convex, 

 grayish white, smooth, glistening, entire. 



Ascitic fluid agar: No growth by most 

 strains. 



Peptone broth: No growth. 



Plain liver broth: No growth. 



Liver broth with serum: After 1 to 3 days, 

 flocculent deposit on the pieces of liver. 



Douglas' broth: Good growth at bottom 

 of tube under anaerobic conditions ; uniform 

 turbidity on shaking. 



Milk: No coagulation. 



Indole not produced (Knorr) ; indole 

 produced (Hine and Berry, and Robin). 



Hydrogen sulfide not produced (Knorr); 

 hydrogen sulfide is produced (Robin). 



Acid from glucose, usually from fructose 

 and sometimes from sucrose and lactose. 

 No acid from maltose, inulin or mannitol 

 (Hine and Berry). Glucose, fructose, galac- 

 tose and sucrose are fermented, lactose 

 only feebly (Robin) . 



Neutral red reduced. 



Nitrites produced from nitrates. 



Proteins not digested. 



Pathogenic for mice. 



Anaerobic. 



Temperature relations: Optimum, be- 

 tween 35° and 37° C. (Hauduroy et al., 



