FAMILY III. BARTONELLACEAE 



971 



in blood and in eruptive elements in Ver- 

 ruga Peruana. 

 Habitat: Found in the blood and endo- 



thelial cells of infected man; probably also 

 found in sand flies (Phlebotomus verruca- 

 rum). 



Genus II. Grahamella Brumpt, 1911.* 



(Gra^tamm Tartakowsky.Trav. IX« Cong. Int. Med. Vet., 4, 1910, 242; not Grahamia 



Theobald, Colonial Office, Misc. Pub. No. 237, 1909; Brumpt, Bull. Soc. path. 



exot., 4, 1911,514.) 



Gra.ha.mel'la. M.L. dim.ending -ella; M.L. fem.dim.n. Grahamella named for Dr. G. S. 

 Graham-Smith, who discovered these organisms in the blood of moles. 



Microorganisms occurring within the erythrocytes of lower mammals. Morphologically 

 these organisms bear a resemblance to but are less polymorphic than the species in Barton- 

 ella and stain more deeply with Giemsa's stain than do the bartonellae. Neither motility 

 nor flagella have been demonstrated. Not acid-fast. Gram-negative. Several species have 

 been cultivated on non-living media. Growth is favored by the addition of hemoglobin. In 

 cultures, the slight propensity to grow in unbranched filaments is variable; rods and coc- 

 coids with indistinct contours are commonly cemented together in dense masses. Aerobic. 

 Parasitic. Splenectomy has little effect on the course of infection. Non-pathogenic. Not 

 affected by arsenicals. The etiological agent of grahamellosis of rodents and of some other 

 vertebrates. 



The type species is Grahamella talpae Brumpt. 



1. Grahamella talpae Brumpt, 1911. 

 (Bull. Soc. path, exot., 4, 1911, 514.) 



tal'pae. M.L. fem.n. Talpa a genus of 

 moles; M.L. gen. noun talpae of Talpa. 



Long or short rods of irregular contour 

 lying within the red blood cells, many with 

 a marked curve, often near one of the ex- 

 tremities. One or both ends of the longer 

 form is enlarged, giving a wedge- or club- 

 shaped appearance. Some of the medium- 

 sized forms are definitely dumbbell-shaped; 

 small forms are nearly round. With Giemsa's 

 stain, the protoplasm of the organism stains 

 light blue with darker areas at the enlarged 

 ends. Dark staining areas of the longer 

 forms give the organism a banded appear- 

 ance. Occasionally free in the plasma, but 

 then usually occur in groups. Most of the 

 infected corpuscles contain between 6 and 

 20 organisms, but relatively few erythro- 

 cytes are infected (rarely more than one 

 per cent (Graham-Smith, Jour. Hyg., 5, 

 1905,453)). 



Infectivity: Infective for moles. 



Source and habitat: Found in moles. 



2. Grahamella peromysci Tyzzer, 1942. 

 (Proc. Amer. Philosoph. Soc, 85, 1942, 363.) 



pe.ro. mys'ci. M.L. mas.n. Peromyscus a 

 genus of mice; M.L. gen. noun peromysci of 

 Peromyscus. 



Occurs as rather uniform rods, spaced 

 within red blood cells, with no morpholog- 

 ical features to distinguish it from other 

 species. Non-motile. 



Grows on non-living media containing 

 blood at temperatures varying from 20° to 

 28° C. under aerobic conditions. Colonies 

 rarely exceed 1.5 mm in diameter and are 

 composed of rods as long as 1.5 microns, 

 varying in thickness from 0.25 to 0.75 mi- 

 cron, and coccoids, 0.25 to 1.0 micron in 

 diameter, occurring together in compact 

 clumps. Older cultures may contain chains 

 of rods and globoid bodies 12 microns or less 

 in diameter. Organisms in cultures stain 

 poorly with alkaline methylene blue solu- 

 tion (LoefHer's) but well with Giemsa's 

 stain. Motility not reported. 



Hemolysis: Not reported. 



Infectivity: Blood or cultures infect the 



* Revised by Dr. David Weinman, Department of Microbiology, Yale University, New 

 Haven, Connecticut, September, 1955. 



