FAMILY XIII. BACILLACEAE 



655 



linum) and an ovolytic {Clostridium para- 

 hotulinum) group. Authorities are not yet 

 in agreement on fermentations and on var- 

 iant sub-types, and the present groupings 

 are only tentative and are subject to re- 

 vision. Meyer and Gunnison cite some 15 

 sub-types on the basis of toxicity, agglutina- 

 tion and fermentation. Many authors have 

 ignored the Bengtson system of classifica- 

 tion and thus have referred incorrectly to 

 Clostridium botulinum in reporting data for 

 the ovolytic types. 



Source: Unknown. Culture received 

 through Reddish from Robertson as Bacillus 

 botulinus No. 94, Strain A, Institute of In- 

 fectious Diseases at Berlin. Similar strains 

 have been isolated from canned foods. 



Habitat: Probably occurs in soil. 



22a. Clostridium botulinum Type C, 

 Spray, 1948. (Toxin-producing anaerobe, 

 Bengtson, U. S. Public Health Repts., 37, 

 1922, 164 and 2252; Bacillus botulinus Type 

 C, Bengtson, ibid., 38; also see U. S. Public 

 Health Serv., Hyg. Lab. Bull. 136, 1924, 7; 

 Clostridium luciliae Bergey et al.. Manual, 

 1st ed., 1923, 336; Spray, in Manual, 6th ed., 

 1948, 779.) 



Rods, 0.5 to 0.8 by 3.0 to 6.0 microns, com- 

 monly slightly curved. 



Agar surface growth (anaerobic) : Very 

 scant, thin. 



Glucose agar deep colonies: Fluffy, with- 

 out central nucleus. Gas not produced. 



Liver agar deep colonies: Lenticular, be- 

 coming loosely fluffy. Gas is produced. 



Agar stab: Slight growth. No gas. 



Broth: Scant growth. 



Milk: Slowly increasing acidity; no coagu- 

 lation; no digestion. 



Acid and gas from glucose, fructose, galac- 

 tose, maltose, glycerol and inositol. Dextrin 

 is weakly fermented. Sucrose, lactose, rafii- 

 nose, inulin, adonitol, dulcitol, mannitol, 

 xylose, arabinose, rhamnose and salicin not 

 fermented. 



Strictly anaerobic. 



Grows well at 37° C. 



A powerful exotoxin is produced which 

 is neurotoxic both on injection and feeding. 

 Toxin is neutralized by homologous (Type 

 Ca) antitoxin, but not by Bacillus para- 

 botulinus Seddon (Type C/3) antitoxin, al- 



though Seddon-toxin is neutralized by Type 

 Ca antitoxin (Pfenninger, Jour. Inf. Dis., 

 35, 1924, 347). 



Pathogenic for animals. 



Comments: Clostridium botulinum Type C 

 may be regarded as a variety of Clostridium 

 botulinum as it has morphological and cul- 

 tural characters very similar to those of the 

 van Ermengem strain. Only divergent or 

 additional characters are recorded here. 



Source: Isolated from the larvae of the 

 blue-bottle fly (Lucilia caesar). Produces 

 limberneck in chickens. 



Habitat: Not determined. 



22b. Clostridium botulinum Type D, 

 Meyer and Gunnison, 1928. (Clostridium 

 parabotulimis bovis Theiler, Viljoen, Green, 

 Du Toit, Meier and Robinson, Union So. 

 Africa, Dept. Agr., 11th and 12th Repts. of 

 the Dir. Vet. Educ. and Res., Part II, 1927, 

 1202; Meyer and Gunnison, Proc. Soc. Exp. 

 Biol, and Med., 26, 1928-29, 88; not Clostri- 

 dium botulinum Type D, Weinberg and 

 Ginsbourg, Donn^es Recentes sur les Mic- 

 robes Anaer., Paris, 1927; not Clostridium 

 botulinum Type D, Willems, Acta Biol. 

 Belg., 1, 1941, 353; also see Meyer and Gun- 

 nison, Jour. Inf. Dis., J^B, 1929, 106; and 

 Eales and Turner, Austral. Jour. Exp. Biol, 

 and Med. Sci., 30, 1952, 295.) 



Straight rods, 0.9 to 2.0 by 3.0 to 9.0 mi- 

 crons, with rounded ends, sometimes pleo- 

 morphic with curved or bent forms mixed 

 with large, thick, straight forms, occurring 

 singly, in pairs or in short chains. Large, 

 ovoid, terminal or subterminal spores, 

 slightly distending the cells. Motile, proba- 

 bly by means of peritrichous flagella, in 

 young cultures examined anaerobically. 

 Gram-positive. 



Iron-gelatin (Spray) or gelatin in peptic 

 digest broth: Liquefaction. 



Glucose rabbit blood agar surface colo- 

 nies: Round, slightly granular, lobulate, 

 faintly gray, glistening; possess blunt proc- 

 esses and fine outgrowths with thicker nodes 

 at intervals; no hemolysis. 



Liver agar deep colonies: Large, fluffy 

 with dense centers. 



Beef heart broth: Good growth with mod- 

 erate gas production. Rapid sedimentation 



