630 



ORDER IV. EUBACTERIALES 



with rounded ends, not in chains. Motile. 

 Gram-positive. 



Spores, 0.8 to 1.0 by 1.3 to 1.5 microns, 

 ellipsoidal, central to terminal; spore wall 

 thick and easily stained (sporulation vari- 

 able on most media; best on potato). 



Sporangia definitely swollen; spindle- 

 shaped to clavate. 



Gelatin agar streak plate: Visible zone 

 of hydrolysis. 



Glucose agar colonies: Small, round, 

 smooth, dense, orange to colorless. 



Agar slants: Growth scant to fair, fiat, 

 smooth, translucent to opaque, pink to 

 orange or brownish, rapidly dissociating to 

 the colorless stage. 



Glucose agar slants: Growth heavier than 

 on agar. Many needle-, boat- and bayonet- 

 shaped microcrystals are present in the 

 growth after 6 days. 



Soybean agar slants: Growth scant to 

 fair, pink to orange, rapidly dissociating 

 to the colorless stage. Many microcrystals. 



Tyrosine agar slants: Same as on agar. 



Broth: Poor to fair uniform turbidity. 



NaCl broth: Growth in 5 per cent NaCl. 

 No growth in 8 per cent. 



Milk agar streak plate: Wide zone of hy- 

 drolysis of the casein. 



Potato: Growth moderate, spreading, 

 thin, orange (sporulation and pigment for- 

 mation may be maintained by transferring 

 every 2 months on potato plugs; incubation 

 temperature, 37° C; storage at 28° C.). 



Indole not produced. 



Acid but no gas (with agar as the base 

 medium) from glucose, glycerol and man- 

 nitol. No acid (no growth) with ammonium 

 salts as source of nitrogen. 



Starch not hydrolyzed. 



Acetylmethylcarbinol not produced. 



pH of glucose broth cultures is 5.0 to 5.8. 



Citrates not utilized. 



Methylene blue usually reduced and re- 

 oxidized. 



Nitrites produced from nitrates. No gas 

 produced in nitrate broth under anaerobic 

 conditions. 



Urease not produced. 



Aerobic, facultatively anaerobic. Growth 

 in glucose broth under anaerobic conditions, 

 pH 5.2 to 5.6. 



Temperature relations: Optimum, about 

 37° C. Maximum, 45° C. No growth at 50° C. 

 Poor growth and less pigmentation at 28° C. 



Pathogenicity: Possible cause of death 

 of honej^ bee larvae. 



Source : Isolated from dry, powdery, light- 

 brown scales of dead larvae of the honey bee. 



Habitat: Probably same as the source. 



19. Bacillus brevis Migula, 1900, emend. 

 Ford, 1916. (Bacillus No. I, Fliigge, Ztschr. 

 f. Hyg., 17, 1894, 294; Bacilhis lacHs No. I, 

 Kruse, in Fliigge, Die Mikroorganismen, 

 3 Aufl., 2, 1896, 208; Migula, Syst. d. Bakt., 

 2, 1900, 583; not Bacillus brevis Lustig, Diag- 

 nostica dei batteri delle acque, Torino, 1890, 

 52; Ford, Jour. Bact., 1, 1916, 522.) 



bre'vis. L. adj. brevis short. 



Rods, 0.6 to 0.9 by 1.5 to 4.0 microns, with 

 ends poorly rounded or pointed, not in 

 chains. Protoplasm finely granular. Motile. 

 Gram- variable, usually Gram-negative. 

 Variations: Slightly smaller or larger in 

 diameter. Rarely encapsulated. 



Spores, 1.0 to 1.3 by 1.3 to 2.0 microns, 

 ellipsoidal, central to sub-terminal. Spore 

 wall usually thick and easily stained. Var- 

 iation: Spores lateral in few cases, like those 

 of Bacillus later os-porus. 



Sporulation in some strains poor on media 

 made with highly refined agar; much better 

 when crude agar is used or when soil extract 

 is added to the refined agar (Smith and 

 Gordon, unpublished data). 



Sporangia definitely bulged; spindle- 

 shaped to clavate. 



Gelatin stab: Slow, crateriform liquefac- 

 tion. 



Gelatin agar streak plate: Wide zone of 

 hydrolysis. 



Agar colonies: Thin, smooth, translucent, 

 quickly spreading over entire plate. Varia- 

 tions: Small, round, opaque, non-spreading. 



Agar slants : Growth thin, smooth, spread- 

 ing or non-spreading, translucent, becoming 

 opaque and creamy with age. 



Glucose agar slants: Growth usually more 

 abundant than on agar, wrinkled, spreading. 



Soybean agar slants: Growth usually 

 abundant, dense, spreading. 



Broth: Turbidity usually heavy, uniform, 

 with or without fragile pellicle. 



