FAMILY VII. MICROCOCCACEAE 



461 



(3-alanine, asparaginate, propionate, sa- 

 licylate, valerate, oxalate, butyrate, man- 

 delate, benzoate (0.5 per cent), starch, 

 ethanol, methanol, n-amyl alcohol, iso- 

 amyl alcohol, tertiary-butanol, n-propanol 

 and lumichrome not utilized. 



Starch not hydrolyzed. 



Chitin is hydrolyzed, ammonia and re- 

 ducing sugars being produced in 6 days. 



Glucose, maltose, mannitol, malate, py- 

 ruvate (0.3 per cent), acetate, succinate, 

 glycogen, chitin and glucosamine are uti- 

 lized as carbon sources. 



Casein is hydrolyzed. 



Non-lipolytic. 



Nitrites produced from nitrates. 



Urease is produced. 



Trimethylamine not produced from tri- 

 methylamine oxide, choline or betaine. 



Growth is inhibited by 10 per cent but not 

 by 4 per cent sodium chloride. 



Aerobic. 



Optimum temperature, between 20° and 

 30° C. Does not grow at 4° C. 



Source : Two strains were isolated from 

 marine mud from the Gulf of Mexico. 



Habitat: Found in sea water and marine 

 mud. 



11. Micrococcus roseus Fltigge, 1886. 

 (Rosafarbiger Diplococcus, Bumm, Der 

 Mikroorganismus der gonorrhoischen 

 Schleimhauterkrankungen, 1 Aufl., 1885, 25; 

 Flijgge, Die Mikroorganismen, 2 Aufl., 

 1886, 183.) 



ro'se.us. L. adj. rosevs rose-colored. 



Spheres, 1.0 to 1.5 microns in diameter, 

 occurring singly and in pairs. Non-motile. 

 Gram- variable. 



Gelatin colonies: Rose surface growth, 

 usually with slow liquefaction. 



Agar colonies: Circular, entire, rose-red 

 surface colonies. 



Agar slant: Thick, rose-red, smooth, 

 glistening growth. 



Broth: Slightly turbid with rose-colored 

 sediment. 



Litmus milk: Unchanged to alkaline; 

 usually reddish sediment after 14 days. 



Potato: Raised, rose-red, smooth, glis- 

 tening growth. 



Acid from glycerol and mannitol. 



Starch not hydrolyzed. 



Usually produces nitrites from nitrates. 

 Utilizes NH4H2PO4 as a source of nitro- 

 gen. 

 Aerobic. 



Optimum temperature, 25° C. 

 Saprophj'tic. 



Source: Dust contamination. 

 Habitat: Widespread, as it occurs in dust. 



12. Micrococcus rubens Migula, 1900. 

 (Micrococcus ietragenus rvber Bujwid, in 

 Schneider, Arb. Bakt. Inst. Karlsruhe, 1, 

 Heft 2, 1894, 215; Migula, Syst. d. Bakt., S, 

 1900, 177.) 



ru'bens. L. part. adj. rubens being red, 

 reddish. 



Description taken from Migula (loc. cit.) 

 and Breed (Jour. Bact., 45, 1943, 455). 



Spheres, the average diameter being 2.1 

 microns; large cells measure 4.0 microns and 

 small cells 1.3 microns in diameter; occur 

 in fours and in irregular masses, generally 

 not singly or in pairs. Non-motile. Gram- 

 negative to Gram-variable. 



Gelatin colonies: After several days, 

 small, pink or flesh-colored, shiny, buty- 

 rous, 0.5 to several mm in diameter. Smaller 

 colonies have regular edges; larger colonies 

 have lobate edges. 



Gelatin streak; Thick, shiny, flesh- 

 colored to carmine-red growth, generally 

 spreading. 



Gelatin stab: Scant, whitish growth along 

 line of stab; surface growth flesh-red. No 

 liquefaction after several weeks, but a slight 

 softening of the medium underneath the 

 growth. 



Agar slant: Luxuriant, thick, spreading, 

 slimy, flesh-colored growth. 



Broth: Bright red, slimy sediment. No 

 pellicle. 



Milk: Generally acid curd followed by 

 slight peptonization. 



Acid from glucose, sucrose, mannitol and 

 glycerol. No action on lactose or starch. 



Nitrites produced from nitrates. 



Pigment soluble in ether, benzol, carbon 

 bisulfide, chloroform and alcohol. Not sol- 

 uble in water (Schneider, op. cit., 1894, 

 215). 



Aerobic. 



Grows well between 26° and 37° C. 



Saprophytic. 



