FAMILY VII. MICROCOCCACEAE 



469 



Sugar peptone water: Abundant growth. 

 Gas. 



Milk: Slow growth. Acid and coagulation. 



Indole not produced. 



Acid and gas from glucose, fructose, 

 sucrose, maltose, lactose and galactose. No 

 acid from .xylose, arabinose, raffinose, man- 

 nitol, dulcitol, salicin, starch, glycerol or 

 inulin. 



Cellulose reaction positive. 



Neutral red broth changed to fluorescent 

 yellow. 



Utilizes peptones, wort and yeast water 

 as sources of nitrogen. Cannot utilize 

 amino acids or inorganic nitrogen. 



Coagulated proteins not attacked. 



Nitrites not produced from nitrates. 



Principal products of metabolism are 

 carbon dioxide and ethanol. 



Microaerophilic to anaerobic. 



Temperature relations: Optimum, 30° C. 

 Minimum, 10° C. Maximum, 45° C. Killed 

 in ten minutes at 65° C. 



Optimum pH, between 1.5 and 5.0; pH 

 limits for growth, 0.9 to 9.8. 



Non-pathogenic. 



Comments: Sarcina ventriculi Goodsir is 

 often described as small, aerobic cocci, 

 isolated from the stomach, which grow on 

 sugar-free media and which do not attack 

 sugars (see Bergeyet al., Manual, 1st to 5th 

 eds., 1923 to 1939). This mistake originated 

 with Falkenheim (Arch. f. exp. Path u. 

 Pharmak., 19, 1885, 339). Beijerinck {op. 

 cit., 1905, 580) was the first to grow pure cul- 

 tures of Sarcina ventriculi and to recognize 

 its anaerobic nature. 



Source: Originally found by making a 

 microscopic examination of vomit. Found in 

 cases of duodenal ulcer, never in cases of 

 stomach cancer (Smit). 



Habitat: Found in the stomach, garden 

 soil, dust, sand and mud. 



2. Sarcina maxima Lindner, 1888. (Lind- 

 ner, Die Sarcina- Organismen der Garungs- 

 gewerbe. Inaug. Diss., Berlin, 1888, 54; 

 Zymosarcina maxijna Smit, Die Garungs- 

 sarcinen. Pflanzenforschung, Jena, Heft 14, 

 1930, 22.) 



max'i.ma. L. sup. adj. maximus greatest. 



Description taken from Weinberg, Nati- 



velle and Prevot (Les Microbes Anaerobies, 

 1937, 1030) and from Smit (op. cit., 1930, 22). 



Large spheres, 4.0 to 4.5 microns in di- 

 ameter, occurring in regular packets of 8, 16, 

 32 or more elements. Non-motile. Gram- 

 positive. 



Growth occurs only in sugar media con- 

 taining peptones. 



Gelatin: No liquefaction. 



Deep glucose agar colonies: Multilenticu- 

 lar. Abundant gas produced. 



Glucose agar slant: Round, whitish colo- 

 nies. 



Glucose broth: Abundant growth, flakj^, 

 gaseous, marked acidification. Disagree- 

 able butyric odor. No turbidity. 



Sugar peptone water: Abundant growth, 

 flaky, gaseous, followed by acidification. 



Milk: Not coagulated. 



Acid and gas from glucose, fructose, galac- 

 tose, maltose, sucrose and lactose. 



Cellulose reaction negative. 



Neutral red broth changed to fluores- 

 cent yellow. 



Utilizes peptones, yeast water or broth 

 as source of nitrogen. Cannot utilize amino 

 acids or inorganic nitrogen. 



Coagulated proteins not attacked. 



Principal products of metabolism are car- 

 bon dioxide, butyric and acetic acids. 



Microaerophilic to anaerobic. 



Temperature relations: Optimum, 30° C. 

 Minimum, 15° C. Maximum, 40° C. Killed 

 in twenty minutes at 55° C. 



pH limits of growth, 1.0 to 9.5. 



Non-pathogenic. 



Source: Isolated from fermenting malt 

 mash . 



Habitat: Acidified flour pastes, wheat 

 bran; seldom in soils. Also intestinal con- 

 tents of guinea pigs (Crecelius and Rettger, 

 Jour. Bact., 4^, 1943, 10). 



3. Sarcina methanica (Smit, 1930) 

 Weinberg et al., 1937. (Methaansarcine, 

 Sohngen, Inaug. Diss., Delft, 1906, 104; 

 Zymosarcina methanica Smit, Die Garungs- 

 sarcinen. Pflanzenforschung, Jena, Heft 14, 

 1930, 25; Weinberg, Nativelle and Prevot, 

 Les Microbes Anaerobies, 1937, 1032.) 



me.tha'ni.ca. Gr. noun methy wine; M.L. 



