578 



ORDER IV. EUBACTERIALES 



1. Zymobacterium oroticum Wachs- 

 man and Barker, 1954. (Jour. Bact., 68, 

 1954, 400.) 



o.ro'ti.cum. M.L. noun acidum oroticxiyn 

 orotic acid; M.L. adj. oroticus orotic. 



Rods, 0.35 to 0.60 by 1.2 to 2.0 microns, 

 with tapering ends, usually occurring in 

 long, intertwined chains. Non-motile. 

 Gram-positive. 



Gelatin: No liquefaction. 



Tryptone-glucose-yeast extract agar col- 

 onies: Small, round, convex. 



Tryptone-glucose-yeast extract broth: 

 In young cultures the cells are character- 

 istically short rods with tapering ends, be- 

 coming ovoid in old cultures. 



Orotic acid-basal medium; Morphologi- 

 cally, the cells are similar to those described 

 directly above. 



Milk: No growth. 



Indole not produced. 



Acid and gas (in 3 to 5 days) from glucose, 

 fructose, sucrose, lactose, maltose, arabi- 

 nose, galactose and mannitol. Lactic and 

 glutamic acids and glycerol not utilized. 



Glucose fermentation yields predomi- 

 nantly ethanol (1.3 moles per mole of glu- 

 cose) and carbon dioxide with small amounts 

 of acetic and possibly lactic and formic 

 acids. The maximum level of ethanol pro- 

 duction has not 3'et been determined; how- 

 ever, the level must be quite low since 

 glucose is fermented slowly, even under 

 optimum conditions. 



Orotic acid fermented with the production 

 of ammonia. 



Starch not hydrolj^zed. 



Nitrites not produced from nitrates. 



Catalase-negative. 



Anaerobic to microaerophilic. 



Source: Isolated from bay mud. 



Habitat: Unknown. 



FAMILY XII. CORYNEBACTERIACEAE LEHMANN AND NEUMANN, 1907.* 

 (Bakt. Diag., 4 Aufl., £, 1907, 500.) 



Co.ry.ne.bac.te.ri.a'ce.ae. M.L. neut.n. Corynebacterium type genus of the family; 

 -aceae ending to denote a family; M.L. fem.pl. n. Corynebacteriaceae the Corynebacterium 

 family. 



Usually non-motile rods, frequently banded or beaded with metachromatic granules. May 

 show marked diversity of form. Branching cells have been described in a few species, but 

 these are very uncertain. Generally Gram-positive, some species being partially decolor- 

 ized more easily than others. Where pigment is formed, it is grayish yellow or orange or 

 pink. Gelatin may be liquefied. Nitrites may be produced from nitrates. Aerobic to micro- 

 aerophilic; a few species are anaerobic. Animal and plant parasites and pathogens; also 

 found in dairy products and soil. 



Key to the genera of family Corynebacteriaceae. 



I. Primaril}^ pathogenic on animals and plants. 



A. Aerobic to anaerobic, pleomorphic rods that show the characteristic arrangement 

 produced by snapping division. 



1. Animal species are non-motile, but some of the plant pathogens are motile. 



Genus I. Corynebacterium, p. 579. 



2. Animal species are motile by means of peritrichous flagella. Causes a monocytosis 

 in warm-blooded animals, including man. 



Genus II. Listeria, p. 597. 



B. Microaerophilic rods to long filaments. Non-motile. 



Genus III. Erysipelothrix, p. 599. 



* Definition and key with arrangement of genera in family prepared by Prof. Robert S. 

 Breed, Cornell University, Geneva, New York, November, 1954. 



