FAMILY XIII. BACILLACEAE 



627 



1895. (Jour. Roy. Microscop. Soc, Ser. II, 

 5, 1895, 592.) 



al've.i. L. noun alveus a beehive; L. gen. 

 noun alvei of a beehive. 



Rods, 0.5 to 0.8 by 2.0 to 5.0 microns, 

 frequentl}- occurring side bj^ side in long 

 rows. Motile. Gram-variable. Variation: 

 Non-motile and with capsular material 

 (Clark, Jour. Bact., 38, 1939, 491). 



Spores, 0.8 to 1.0 by 1.2 to 2.0 microns, 

 ellipsoidal, central to terminal. Spore wall 

 thick and easily stained. Free spores fre- 

 quently^ in parallel arrangement like that 

 of the rods. 



Sporangia distinctly bulged, spindle- 

 shaped to clavate. 



Gelatin stab: Slow liquefaction. 



Gelatin agar streak plate: Good zone of 

 hydrolysis. 



Agar colonies: Thin, smooth, translucent, 

 quickly spreading as a thin layer over entire 

 plate. Variation: Round and rather gummy. 



Giant colonies: Motile, bullet-shaped, 

 micro-colonies moving in large arcs from 

 point of inoculation, usually covering the 

 plate in 1 day (agar plates should stand a 

 couple days in order to dry the surface some- 

 what before using). 



Agar slants: Growth thin, flat, spreading 

 over the surface. Migrating colonies on the 

 upper, drier part of the slant. Variation: 

 Growth thick and gummy. 



Glucose agar slants: Growth thinner or 

 thicker than on agar. 



Glucose nitrate agar slants: Scant, if 

 any, growth. 



Proteose-peptone acid agar slants: No 

 growth. 



Soybean agar slants: Growth, if any, 

 scant, thin and spreading. Variation: Abun- 

 dant, dense, wrinkled. 



Broth: Turbidity uniform, light to mod- 

 erate. 



NaCl broth: No growth in 5 per cent 

 NaCl.' 



Milk: Usually coagulated; little or no 

 acid; peptonized. 



Milk agar streak plate: Wide zone of hy- 

 drolysis of the casein. 



Potato: Growth, if any, inconspicuous 

 to moderate, spreading, yellowish. 



Indole is produced. 



Acid but no gas (with ammonium salts 

 as source of nitrogen) from glucose; acid 

 usually produced from sucrose. Generally 

 no acid from lactose or mannitol. No acid 

 from arabinose or xylose. 



Starch is hydrolyzed. 



Acetylmethj'lcarbinol is produced. 



pH of glucose broth is usually 4.8 to 5.6. 



Citrates not utilized. 



Methylene blue reduced; reoxidation 

 variable. 



Nitrites not produced from nitrates. No 

 gas produced in nitrate broth under ana- 

 erobic conditions. 



Urease not produced. 



Thiamine is essential for growth. 



Lecithinase reaction negative or re- 

 stricted. 



Aerobic, facultatively anaerobic. Growth 

 in glucose broth under anaerobic conditions, 

 often with a few bubbles of gas. 



Temperature relations: Optimum, about 

 30° C. Maximum, between 43° and 45° C. 



Source: Isolated from the larvae of the 

 honey bee infected with European foul- 

 brood. 



Habitat: Widely distributed in soil and 

 bee-hives. 



15. Bacillus stearotherniophilus Donk, 



1920. (Jour. Bact., 5, 1920, 373.) 



ste.a.ro.ther.mo'phi.lus. Gr. noun stear 

 fat; Gr. noun thermus heat; Gr. adj. phibis 

 loving; M.L. adj. stearotherniophilus (pre- 

 sumably intended to mean) heat- and fat- 

 loving. 



Rods, 0.6 to 1.0 by 2.0 to 5.0 microns, 

 sometimes occurring in filaments. Motile. 

 Gram- variable. 



Spores, 1.0 to 1.2 by 1.5 to 2.2 microns, 

 characteristically variable in size, ellip- 

 soidal, terminal to subterminal. Spore wall 

 thick and easily stained. 



Sporangia definitely swollen and racket- 

 shaped. 



Gelatin stab: No liquefaction (tempera- 

 ture too low). 



Gelatin agar streak plate: Usually there 

 is a wide zone of hydrolysis. 



Agar colonies: Not distinctive, pinpoint 

 to small, round to irregular, translucent to 

 opaque, rough to smooth. 



