FAMILY XIII. BACILLACEAE 



665 



Glucose, fructose, maltose, galactose and 

 sorbitol are fermented. 



Nitrites not produced from nitrates. 



Coagulated serum: Partially digested. 



Coagulated egg white: Not attacked. 



Fibrin: Digested. 



Anaerobic. 



Optimum temperature, 37° C. 



Not pathogenic for guinea pigs or mice. 



Source : Isolated from soil and from humus 

 from Africa. 



Habitat: Soil. 



40. Clostridium biferinentans (Wein- 

 berg and Seguin, 1918) Bergey et al., 1923. 

 {Bacillus bifermentans sporogenes Tissier 

 and Martelly, Ann. Inst. Past., 16, 1902, 

 894; Bacillus biferinentans Weinberg and 

 Seguin, La Gangrene Gazeuse, Paris, 1918, 

 128; Bergey et al., Manual, 1st ed., 1923, 

 323.) 



bi.fer.men'tans. L. pref. bis twice; L. 

 part. adj. fermentans fermenting; M.L. adj. 

 bijermentans doubly fermenting. 



Rods, 0.8 to 1.0 by 5.0 to 6.0 microns, oc- 

 curring singly, in pairs and in short chains. 

 Spores ovoid, central to eccentric, not dis- 

 tinctly swelling the cells. Motile in very 

 young cultures only (less than 24 hours old). 

 Gram-positive. 



Gelatin: Liquefaction. 



Agar surface colonies (anaerobic) : Cir- 

 cular, crenated to amoeboid. 



Agar deep colonies: Biconvex to multi- 

 planate discs. 



Blood agar surface colonies (anaerobic) : 

 Small, transparent, becoming opaque, yel- 

 lowish, spreading. Hemolysis. 



Egg yolk agar surface colonies: Small to 

 medium-sized, slightly raised, sometimes 

 shiny, edges rough or entire. Colony sur- 

 rounded by wide zone of white precipitate, 

 but no luster is produced. Colony usually 

 chalky white in contrast to colony of Clos- 

 tridium perfringens Holland which is creamy 

 white. Differentiation between these two 

 species, which give similar characteristics 

 on egg yolk agar, is easily done on the basis 

 of iron milk, carbohydrate fermentations 

 and indole production (McClung and To- 

 abe, Jour. Bact., 53, 1947, 139). 



Broth: Turbid; gas produced. Thick, 

 mucoid sediment. 



Liquid cultures (particularly those of 

 to.xic strains) often have a pronounced va- 

 leric odor (Vawter, Amer. Jour. Vet. Re- 

 search, 3, 1942, 382). 



Iron-milk (Spray) : Inactive, gaseous fer- 

 mentation; more or less rapid digestion of 

 soft semi-coagulum; blackening. 



Indole is produced. 



Hydrogen sulfide is produced. 



Acid and gas from glucose, fructose, man- 

 nose and maltose. Galactose, arabinose, 

 xylose, lactose, sucrose, inulin and dulcitol 

 not fermented. Records suggest variability 

 in glycerol and salicin fermentation. 



Nitrites not produced from nitrates. 



Coagulated albumin: Rapid liquefaction 

 and blackening. 



Blood serum: Liquefaction and blacken- 

 ing. 



Brain medium: Digestion and blackening. 



Egg-meat medium: Digestion and black- 

 ening. Tyrosine crystals in 8 to 10 da3's. 



Anaerobic. 



Optimum temperature, between 30° and 

 37° C. Growth occurs at 50° C. 



Toxicity varies from acute to none. 



Pathogenicity varies with the strain : some 

 kill rabbits in 24 hours, others produce only 

 slight edema, while some show no effect. 



Comment: Varying degrees of virulence 

 and toxicity occur in this species. The more 

 toxic and virulent strains are commonly re- 

 ferred to as Clostridium sordelli. 



Source: Originally isolated from putrid 

 meat; subsequently from gaseous gangrene. 



Habitat: Occurs commonly in feces, soil 

 and sewage. Widely distributed in nature. 



41. Clostridium cylindrosporum 



Barker and Beck, 1941. (Jour. Biol. Chem., 

 141, 1941, 3.) 



cy.lin.dro'spo.rum. Gr. noun cylindrus 

 a cylinder; Gr. noun sporus a seed; M.L. 

 noun spora a spore; M.L. adj. cylindrosporus 

 cylinder-spored. 



Straight rods, 1.0 by 4.0 to 7.0 microns. 

 Spores elongate to cylindrical, 1.0 to 1.1 by 

 1.7 to 3.0 microns, central, subterminal to 

 terminal, with little or no swelling of the 



