FAMILY XIII. BACILLACEAE 



689 



Source: Isolated from human feces. 

 Habitat: Intestinal canal of man. 



87. Clostridium therniocellmn Viljoen 

 et al., 1926. (Viljoen, Fred and Peterson, 

 Jour. Agr. Sci. (London), 16, 1926, 7; Ter- 

 minosporus thermocellus Prevot, Ann. Inst. 

 Past., 61, 1938, 86; Plectridium snieszkoi 

 Prevot, Man. d. Class, et Determ. d. Bact. 

 Anaerob., 1940, 154; also see McBee, Jour. 

 Bact., 67, 1954, 505; and Bact. Rev., 14, 1950, 

 51.) 



ther.mo'cel.lum. Gr. adj. thermus hot; 

 M.L. noun cellulosum cellulose; M.L. adj. 

 thermocellus (probably intended to mean) a 

 thermophilic organism that digests cellu- 

 lose. 



Vegetative cells are straight or slightl.y 

 curved rods, 0.6 to 0.7 by 2.5 to 3.5 microns, 

 usually occurring as individuals but oc- 

 casionally forming long chains in liquid 

 media. Terminal, ovoid spores, about 1.2 by 

 1.6 microns, swelling the cells. Motile by 

 means of peritrichous flagella. Gram-nega- 

 tive. 



Cellulose-gelatin: Cellulose digested, but 

 gelatin not liquefied. 



Cellobiose agar surface colonies (anaero- 

 bic) : Watery, slightly convex, translucent 

 with a bluish fluorescence. 



Cellulose agar surface colonies (anaero- 

 bic) : As above but with an insoluble, yellow- 

 ish orange pigment frequently produced. 

 Cellulose digested in an area surrounding 

 the colony. 



Cellulose agar deep colonies: Lenticular, 

 becoming lobate in old cultures. Colonies 

 may be white or produce a yellowish orange 

 pigment which is more intense in some 

 strains than in others. Cellulose surrounding 

 the colony is digested. 



Nutrient broth (anaerobic): No growth. 



Glucose broth (anaerobic): No growth. 



Indole not produced. 



Hydrogen sulfide not produced. 



Acid and gas from cellulose, cellobiose, 

 .xylose and hemicelluloses. Glucose, fruc- 

 tose, mannose, galactose, arabinose, su- 

 crose, lactose, maltose, melibiose, trehalose, 

 inulin, salicin, dextrin, soluble starch, inosi- 

 tol, sorbitol, dulcitol, mannitol, glycerol, 

 pectin and gum arable not fermented. 



Fermentation products include CO2 , H2 , 



formic, acetic, lactic and succinic acids and 

 ethyl alcohol. 



Acetylmethylcarbinol not produced. 



Nitrites not produced from nitrates. 



Anaerobic. 



Optimum temperature, about 60° C. 

 Grows between 50° and 68° C. 



Comment : A thermophilic strain of Bacil- 

 lus cellulosae dissolve?is Khouvine is re- 

 garded as identical with this species. 



Source: Isolated from horse manure, hu- 

 man feces, soil and marine mud. 



Habitat: Probably widely dispersed in 

 soils. 



88. Clostridium thermocellulaseum 



Enebo, 1951. (Physiol. Plantarum, 4, 1951, 

 653.) 



ther.mo.cel.lu.la'se.um. Gr. adj. ther- 

 7110S hot; M.L. noun cellulosum cellulose; 

 M.L. adj. thermocelhilasexis (probabl}' in- 

 tended to mean) a thermophilic organism 

 that digests cellulose. 



Slender rods, 0.35 to 0.45 by 2.0 to 4.8 mi- 

 crons, with rounded ends, occurring singly 

 or in pairs. Terminal spores, about 1.0 to 

 1.25 microns in size, soon separate from the 

 sporangia, which are rapidly dissolved. 

 Often times a small amount of the vegeta- 

 tive cell remains attached to the spore. Mo- 

 tile by means of very few peritrichous fla- 

 gella. Gram-negative. 



Gelatin: No liquefaction at 55° C. 



Cellulose agar colonies: Minute, colorless, 

 translucent, convex surface colonies; sub- 

 surface colonies are minute, faintly yellow 

 and lens-shaped. Colonies are surrounded 

 by clear, circular, decomposition zones. 



Nutrient and starch agar: No growth 

 (Enebo, Studies on Cellulose Decomposition 

 by an Anaerobic Thermophilic Bacterium 

 and Two Associated Non-cellulolytic Spe- 

 cies, Stockholm, 1954). 



Litmus milk: Not coagulated; acid not 

 produced. 



Indole not produced. 



Acid and gas from glucose, fructose, man- 

 nose (weakly), maltose (weakly), cellobiose, 

 arabinose and xylose. Galactose, rhamnose, 

 sucrose, lactose, melibiose, trehalose, rafh- 

 nose, glycerol, mannitol, dulcitol, sorbitol 

 and starch not fermented. 



Cellulose is hydrolyzed to low-molecular 



