FAMILY LACTOBACTERIACEAE 



371 



sorbitol, inulin, starch, or salicin. 

 Dextro lactic acid formed. 



Catalase is produced. 



Temperature relations : Optimum 30°C. 

 Maximum 35°C. Minimum 20°C. Sur- 

 vives 71.6°C for 2 J but not 10 minutes. 



Aerobic to facultative anaerobic. 



Source : From milk, cheese, butter, 

 milking equipment, bovine feces. 



Habitat : Bovine intestinal tract and 

 probably soil. 



Appendix: While Orla-Jensen has 

 placed the following species in the genus 

 Microhacterium, the description is in- 

 complete and the organism differs from 

 the other species in the genus in several 

 important characters. Therefore it is 

 placed in this appendix. 



Microhacterium liquejaciens Orla-Jen- 

 sen. (Orla-Jensen, The Lactic Acid 

 Bacteria, 1919, 182; Conjncbaclerium 

 liquefaciens Jensen, Proc. Linnean 

 Soc. of New So. Wales, 59, 1934, 49.) 

 From Latin liqueo, to be liquid; facio, 

 to make. 



Morphologically resembles Micro - 

 bacterium lacticum. 



Agar : Surface growth is faint j'ellowish- 

 green. 



Gelatin: Liquefied. 



Milk: Rennet coagulation in 1 to 3 

 weeks ; the casein is peptonized gradually. 



Catalase is produced. 



Temperature relations : Optimum 30°C. 

 Withstands heating to SO°C. 



Action on carbohydrates has not been 

 described; Orla-Jensen states that very 

 little acid is produced. 



Source : From milk and more frequently 

 from cheese. 



Habitat: Presumably dairy products. 



NoTi:. The following species may 

 belong here : Bacterium caseolyticum 

 Kitahara, Jour. Agr. Chem. Soc. Japan, 

 Tokyo, 14, 1938, 121 and 1461. A Gram- 

 positive, acid-forming and proteolytic 

 rod said by the author to be related to 

 Microhacterium liquejaciens. 



