FAMILY XII. CORYNEBACTERIACEAE 



597 



IMilk: Acid; coagulated; partially di- 

 gested. 



Indole production weak, if at all. 



Hydrogen sulfide irregularly produced. 



Acid and gas from glucose, fructose, galac- 

 tose, sucrose, maltose, trehalose, melezitose, 

 glycerol, mannitol, inositol, erythritol, 

 adonitol, dextrin and starch. Lactose, raffi- 

 nose, inulin and glucosamine slowly acidi- 

 fied (in 20 to 40 days). No acid or gas from 

 xylose, rhamnose, arabinose, aesculin, 

 amygdalin, salicin, cellobiose, dulcitol, 

 mannitol, sorbitol, methyl glucoside or 

 methyl mannoside. 



Nitrites not produced from nitrates. 



Coagulated egg albumen: Not digested 

 awaj' but becomes transparent. 



Blood agar colonies: 2 to 3 mm in diame- 

 ter, raised, yellowish white, smooth; no 

 hemolysis. 



Anaerobic. 



Optimum temperature, 37° C. 



Non-pathogenic for rabbits or white mice. 



Linzenmeier (Ann. Inst. Past., 87, 1954, 

 572) states that serologically Corynebacte- 

 rium avidum is closely related to C. acnes. 



Comments: Pederson (Jour. Bact., 50, 

 1945, 478) secured a culture of this species 

 from Eggerth and found that it ferments 

 glucose with the production of higher fatty 

 (mainly butyric) acids and lactic acid; he 

 further states that this species appears to 

 be closely related to Butyribacteriujn rett- 

 geri Barker and Haas. 



Source: Isolated from feces. 



Habitat: From the human intestinal tract 

 so far as known. 



33. Corynebacteriuni diphtheroides 



Prevot, 1938. (Bacille diphteroide, Jungano, 

 Compt. rend. Soc. Biol., Paris, 66, 1909, 112; 

 Corynebacteriuni diphteroides (sic) Prevot, 

 Ann. Inst. Past., 60, 1938, 304.) 



diph.the.ro.i'des. Or. noun diphthera 

 leather, skin; M.L. fem.n. diphtheria diph- 

 theria; Gr. eidus form, shape; M.L. adj. 

 diphtheroides resembling diphtheria. 



Medium-sized (0.3 to 0.4 by 3.0 to 4.0 

 microns), straight or curved, club-shaped 

 rods resembling those of Corynebacteriuni 

 diphiheriae and occurring singly, in pairs or 

 in clumps or angularly arranged due to snap- 

 ping division. Non-motile. Gram-positive. 



Gelatin: No liquefaction. 



Glucose agar stab: Colonies round; gas 

 is produced. 



Glucose broth: Turbid with the produc- 

 tion of gas. 



Milk: Not coagulated. 



Indole is produced. 



Acid and gas from glucose. 



Non-proteolytic. 



Anaerobic. 



Optimum temperature, 37° C. 



Non-pathogenic. 



Serology: See Linzenmeier (Ann. Inst. 

 Past., 87, 1954, 572). 



Source: Isolated from the intestine of a 

 white rat. Also found in a case of fibrous 

 osteitis (Beerens). 



Habitat: Unknown except as stated 

 above. 



Genus II. Listeria Pirie, 1940.* 



(Listerella Pirie, Publ. So. African Inst, for Med. Res., 3, 1927, 163; not Listerella Jahn, 

 Ber. d. deutsch. Bot. Ges., 34, 1906, 538; not Listerella Cushman, Contr. Cushman Lab. 

 Foram., Sharon, Mass., 9, 1933, 32; Pirie, Science, 91, 1940, 383; also see Seeliger, Listeriosis. 

 Beitr. z. Hyg. u. Epidemiol., Barth, Leipzig, Heft 8, 1955, 143 pp.) 



Lis.te'ri.a. M.L. fem.n. Listeria named for Joseph Lister, an English surgeon and bac- 

 teriologist. 



Small rods. Motile by means of peritrichous flagella. Gram-positive. Grow freely on ordi- 

 nary media. Acid but no gas from glucose and a few additional carbohydrates. Esculin is 

 hydrolyzed. Catalase-positive. Aerobic. Pathogenic parasites. Parasitic in warm-blooded 

 animals. 



The type species is Listeria monocytogenes (iVIurray et al.) Pirie. 



Revised by Prof E. G. D Murray, McGill University, Montreal, P.Q., Canada, Jur 



1955 



