FAMILY VII. MICROCOCCACEAE 



477 



Source: Isolated from twenty cases of 

 puerperal fever (Schottmiiller), from in- 

 fected tonsils (Prevot) and from the female 

 genital tract (Foubert and Douglas). 



Habitat: Female genital tract and tonsils 

 so far as known. 



5. Peptococcus prevotii (Foubert and 

 Douglas, 1948) Douglas, comb. nov. {Micro- 

 coccus prevotii Foubert and Douglas, Jour. 

 Bact., 56, 1948,25.) 



pre.vo'ti.i. M.L. gen. noun prevotii of 

 Prevot; named for A. Prevot, a French bac- 

 teriologist. 



Spherical cells, 0.6 to 1.5 microns in di- 

 ameter, occurring singly, in pairs, tetrads 

 and irregular groups. Non-motile. Not en- 

 capsulated. Gram-positive. 



Gelatin: No liquefaction. 



Agar colonies: Circular, 0.5 to 1.0 mm in 

 diameter, smooth, entire, low convex, trans- 

 lucent or opaque, gray to grayish white, 

 butyrous. 



Growth in fluid medium: In peptone yeast 

 extract broth, moderately heavy growth in 

 72 hours, coarsely granular; no odor; gas is 

 produced. Growth of some strains enhanced 

 slightly by glucose. 



Litmus milk: Litmus reduced. 



Indole not produced. 



Hydrogen sulfide production slight, if at 

 all. 



All strains utilize small amounts of glu- 

 cose. Some strains produce slight acidity in 

 glucose, fructose, galactose, mannose, mal- 

 tose and raffinose. Cell suspensions decom- 

 pose serine, threonine and purines with the 

 formation of CO2 , NH3 , H2 and unidenti- 

 fied products. Glutamate, histidine and 

 other amino acids not decomposed. 



Nitrites not produced from nitrates; ni- 

 trites not reduced. 



Egg albumen, beef serum and casein not 

 attacked. 



Coagulase-negative. 



Catalase-positive. 



Anaerobic. 



Optimum temperature, 37° C. Growth be- 

 tween 25° and 37° C. 



Optimum pH, between 6.5 and 8.5. 



Non-hemolytic. 



Distinctive characters : Distinguished 



from Peptococcus aerogenes by its failure 

 to produce indole, to reduce nitrates and to 

 ferment glutamate and histidine. 



Source: Isolated from the female genital 

 tract; also from tonsils, from a bottle of 

 plasma and from skin. 



Habitat: From human sources so far as 

 known. 



6. Peptococcus grigoroffii (Prevot, 

 1933) Douglas, comb. nov. (Micrococcus A, 

 Grigoroff, These de Geneve, 1905; Micro- 

 coccus grigoroffi, (sic) Prevot, Ann. Sci. Nat., 

 Ser. Bot. et Zool., 15, 1933, 219.) 



gri.go.rof'li.i. M.L. gen. noun grigoroffii 

 of Grigoroff; named for S. Grigoroff, the 

 bacteriologist who first isolated this or- 

 ganism. 



Small spheres, averaging 0.7 micron in 

 diameter, occurring singly or in irregular 

 masses. Gram-positive. 



Gelatin: Colonies appear in four days. No 

 liquefaction. 



Deep agar colonies: After three days, 

 round, lenticular, yellowish. 



Glucose broth: Turbid after two days 

 with whitish sediment. Neither gas nor 

 fetid odor produced. The medium is acidi- 

 fied. 



Milk: Good growth; acid; coagulation. 



Acid from glucose, fructose, maltose, lac- 

 tose and sorbitol. 



Anaerobic. 



Optimum temperature, 37° C. 



One strain is slightly pathogenic. 



Distinctive characters: This is the onl}- 

 anaerobic coccus growing in irregular 

 masses that coagulates milk. Lactose is fer- 

 mented. 



Source: Five strains were isolated from 

 the appendix by Grigoroff; one strain was 

 isolated from an appendix by Prevot. 



Habitat: Human digestive tract. Not 

 common. 



7. Peptococcus constellatus (Prevot, 

 1924) Douglas, comb. nov. {Diplococcus con- 

 stellatus Prevot, Compt. rend. Soc. Biol., 

 Paris, 5/, 1924,426.) 



con.stel.la'tus. L. adj. constellatus stud- 

 ded with stars. 

 Description taken in part from Prevot 



