FAMILY CORYNEBACTERIACEAE 



387 



5. Corynebacterium hoagii (Morse) 

 Eberson. (Bacillus X, Hoag, Boston 

 Med. and Surg. Jour., 157, 1907, 10; 

 Bacillus hoagii Morse, Jour. Inf. Dis., 

 11, 1912, 284; Eberson, Jour. Inf. Dis., 

 23, 1918, 10.) Named for Hoag, the 

 bacteriologist who first isolated the 

 species. 



Rods: 0.8 to 1.0 by 1.0 to 3.0 microns, 

 occurring singly. Show polar staining in 

 the shorter forms while the longer forms 

 are barred and slightly club-shaped. 

 Non-motile. Gram-positive. 



Gelatin colonies : Small, dull, pale pink, 

 entire. 



Gelatin stab : Slight pink surface 

 growth. No liquefaction. 



Agar colonies: Small, pale pink, dull, 

 granular, entire. 



Agar slant : Filiform, dull, pink growth. 



Broth: Turbid, with slight pink sedi- 

 ment. 



Litmus milk : Slightly alkaline, with 

 pink sediment. 



Potato : Dull, filiform streak. 



Indole not formed. 



Nitrites not produced from nitrates. 



Acid from glucose and sucrose but not 

 maltose. 



Blood serum: Dull, filiform, pink 

 streak. 



Aerobic. 



Optimum temperature 30°C. 



Source: From the throat. Air con- 

 tamination of cultures. 



Habitat : Unknown. 



6. Corynebacterium acnes (Gilchrist) 

 Eberson. {Bacillus acnes Gilchrist, 

 Johns Hopkins Hosp. Repts., 9, 1901, 

 425; Actinomijces acnes Gilchrist, ibid., 

 425; Eberson, Jour. Inf. Dis., 23, 1918, 

 10; Fusiformis acnes Holland, Jour. 

 Bact., 5, 1920, 233; Propionibacterium 

 acnes Douglas and Gunter, Jour. Bact., 

 52, 1946, 22.) From M. L. acne, the 

 disease acne. 



Rods, vary in dimensions, usually 0.5 

 by 0.5 to 2.0 microns, sometimes slightly 

 club-shaped. Show alternate bands of 

 stained and unstained material. Non- 

 motile. Gram-positive. 



Growth in culture media very feeble. 



Best growth occurs in shake cultures 

 with soft, slightly acid, glucose agar. 



Agar slant: Very small, circular trans- 

 parent colonies which may later become 

 rose-colored. 



Loeffler's blood serum: Small, grayish 

 colonies, which may later become rose- 

 colored. 



Broth : Clear. 



Litmus milk : Soft coagulum. 



Potato : No growth in aerobic cultures, 

 but pink streak in anaerobic cultures. 



Indole not formed. 



Nitrites produced from nitrates. 



Acid from glucose, sucrose (slight), 

 maltose, mannitol and inulin. Produces 

 propionic acid (Douglas and Gunter, 

 loc. cit.). 



Catalase produced. 



Microaerophilic to anaerobic. 



Optimum temperature 35° to 37°C. 



Pathogenic for mice and gives rise to 

 characteristic lesions. 



Source: From acne pustules. 



Habitat : Sebaceous glands, hair fol- 

 licles and acne pustules. 



Notes: Even before 1901, several 

 authors reported finding bacteria in acne 

 pustules which were evidently diphthe- 

 roid in nature. Unna (Monatshefte f. 

 prakt. Derm., 13, 1891, 232) found an 

 organism in acne pustules which he gave 

 the name of Flaschenbacillus. Hodara 

 (Monatshefte f. prakt. Derm., 18, 1894, 

 586) reported the presence of two types of 

 bacteria in acne lesions, the second of 

 which he called Flaschenkugelbacillus. 

 Sabouraud (Ann. Inst. Past., 11, 1897, 

 134) gave a more accurate description of 

 these diphtheroids which he reported to 

 need an acid medium for growth. He 

 called this bacterium, bacille de s^bor- 

 rhee grasse ( Bacillus sabouraudi Neveu- 

 Lemaire, Precis Parasitol. Hum., 5th ed., 

 1921, 24). 



Additional anaerobic species will be 

 found in the appendix. These are Cory- 

 nebacterium typhi which Eberson (loc. cit., 

 19) and Hewlett (Med. Res. Council, Syst. 

 of Bact., London, 5, 1930, 145) regard as 

 practically identical with Corynebac- 



