480 



ORDER IV. EUBACTERIALES 



Micrococcus anaerobius Hall, in Manual, 

 6th ed., 1948, 247). 



an.a.e.ro'bi.us. Gr. pref. an not; Gr. 

 noun aer air; Gr. noun bius life; M.L. adj. 

 anaerobius not living in air. 



De.scription taken from Prevot (Ann. 

 Sci. Nat., Ser. Bot. et ZooL, 15, 1933, 209), 

 Foubert (Thesis, Univ. of Washington, 

 1947) and Douglas (Jour. Bact., 62, 1951, 

 517). 



Spheres, 0.5 to 0.6 micron in diameter, 

 occurring singly, in pairs, tetrads and 

 masses. Non-motile. Not encapsulated. 

 Gram-positive. 



Gelatin: No liquefaction. 



Agar colonies: 0.5 to 1.0 mm in diameter, 

 circular, smooth, entire, low convex, 

 opaque, grayish, opalescent, butyrous. 



Growth in fluid medium: In peptone yeast 

 extract broth, growth moderate, cloudy to 

 granular; no visible gas production. Growth 

 not enhanced by glucose. 



Litmus milk: Reduced. 



Indole not produced. 



Hj^drogen sulfide is produced. 



Cell suspensions and growing cultures 



decompose glycine to CO2 , NH3 and acetic 

 acid. Other amino acids are not fermented. 

 Purines, lactate and malate not attacked. 

 Sugars attacked slowly or not at all. 



Nitrites not produced from nitrates. 



Egg albumen, beef serum and casein not 

 attacked. 



Coagulase-negative. 



Catalase-positive. 



Anaerobic. 



Optimum temperature, 37° C. Growth 

 between 25° and 37° C. 



Optimum pH, 7.0; pH range, between 6.0 

 and 8.0. 



Non-hemolytic. 



Distinctive characters: No visible gas 

 produced; sugars utilized slowly or not at 

 all; glycine fermented to CO 2 , NH3 and 

 acetic acid; failure to liquefy gelatin and 

 uniform cell size distinguish this species 

 from Pepiococcus variabilis. 



Source: Isolated by Jungano from in- 

 flamed appendices and from a case of cysti- 

 tis; also from an infected tonsil (Prevot). 



Habitat: From human sources so far as 

 known. 



FAMILY VIII. NEISSERIACEAE PREVOT, 1933. 

 (Ann. Sci. Nat., S6t. Bot., 15, 1933, 119.) 



Neis.se. ri.a'ce.ae. M.L. fem.n. Neisseria type genus of the family; -aceae ending to de- 

 note a family; M.L. fem.pl.n. Neisseriaceae the Neisseria family. 



Spherical cells occurring in pairs or in masses. Giant cells common in young cultures. 

 Non-motile. Gram-negative. Pigment may or may not be produced. Some species grow 

 poorly immediately after isolation without mammalian body fluids. Aerobic, facultatively 

 anaerobic and anaerobic. Optimum temperature, 37°C. All known species are parasitic. 



Key to the genera of famihj Neisseriaceae. 



I. Cells, approximately 1.0 micron in diameter, occur in pairs with the adjacent sides 

 usually flattened. Aerobic or facultatively anaerobic. 



Genus I. Neisseria, p. 480. 

 II. Cells, usually less than 0.5 micron in diameter, occur in pairs and masses. Anaero- 

 bic. 



Genus II. Veillonella, p. 485. 



Genus I. Neisseria Trevisan, 1885* 



(Trevisan, Atti della Accademia Fisio-Medico-Statistica in Milano, Ser. 4, S, 1885, 105; 

 Gonococcus Lindau, in Just's Bot. Jahresber., I Abt., Orig., 26, 1898, 100.) 



* Revised by Dr. Sara E. Branham, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, 

 and Dr. Michael J. Pelczar, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, December, 

 1952. Reviewed by Prof. E. G. D. Murray, McGill University, Montreal, P. Q., Canada. 



