FAMILY CORYNEBACTERIACEAE 



409 



granular extensions into the medium; 

 growth does not spread through the en- 

 tire medium. This is characteristic 

 (Seastone, Jour. Exp. Med., 62, 1935, 

 203). 



Sheep liver extract agar colonies : Cir- 

 cular, smooth, slightly flattened, trans- 

 parent by transmitted and milk-white 

 by reflected light. Viscid. 



Sheep liver extract agar slant : Con- 

 fluent, flat, transparent, viscid growth. 



Peptone agar : Growth is thinner than 

 on liver extract agar. 



Blood agar : Improved growth with 

 zone of hemolysis around colonies. 



Peptone broth : Surface film with 

 flocculent sediment. 



Litmus milk: Slightly acid, decolor- 

 ized. No coagulation. 



Glycerol-potato : Xo apparent growth. 



Inspissated ox servun : Grows as a very 

 thin, transparent film. 



Dorset's egg medium: Very thin film. 



Indole not formed. 



Hydrogen sulfide not formed. 



Nitrites not produced from nitrates. 



Acid but no gas from glucose, rhamnose 

 and salicin promptly, more slowly from 

 dextrin, sucrose, soluble starch and 

 glycerol. Acid production may be vari- 

 able and slow from maltose and lactose. 

 No action on arabinose, galactose, xylose, 

 mannitol, dulcitol, inulin and inositol. 



All cultures give off a penetrating, 

 rather unpleasant acid smell. 



Aerobic, facultative. 



Optimum temperature 37 ''C. Ther- 

 mal death point 58° to 59°C in 10 minutes. 



Animal inoculations: Injection of rab- 

 bits with cultures results in a very 

 marked increase in monocytes circulat- 

 ing in the blood. This is the most strik- 

 ing character of the organism and is 

 exhibited by strains derived from all 

 sources. Infection is characterized bj' 

 necrotic foci in various organs. 



Serological characters : Agglutination 

 and absorption of agglutinin reactions 

 show a variation in degree with different 

 strains but there is no definite indication 

 that strains from different kinds of ani- 

 mal hosts are different species. Pater- 



son (Jour. Path, and Bact., 57, 1940, 

 427) concludes from his studies of the 

 flagellar and somatic antigens of 54 

 cultures that four types may be recog- 

 nized in this species. These do not 

 bear any relation to the host species 

 or to the geographical area from which 

 they were isolated. 



Possibly related to Erysipelothrix 

 (Barber, Jour. Path, and Bact., 48, 

 1939, 11). 



Habitat and source : Lesions in organs, 

 blood, cerebrospinal fluid of rabbits, 

 guinea pigs, sheep, cattle, foxes, hogs, 

 fowls, gerbilles and man, in all of which 

 natural disease occurs. Many cases 

 have proved fatal. The cause of infec- 

 tious mononucleosis in man (Nyfeldt, 

 loc. cit.). 



Appendix: The following binomials 

 have also been proposed for species in 

 this genus. 



Bacterium hepatis Hiilphers. (Sven. 

 Vet.-Tidskrift, 2, 1911, 271.) From 

 necrosis of the liver of a rabbit. Nyfeldt 

 (Skand. Vet.-Tidskrift, 30, 1940, 284) re- 

 gards this as a synonym of Listcrella 

 monocytogenes. However, failure to fer- 

 ment lactose, rhamnose, sucrose and 

 salicin -with fermentation of xylose, and 

 failure to infect guinea pigs and chick- 

 ens indicate a possible difference between 

 the two species. 



Listerella hibiscus liquefaciens Naka- 

 hama. (Jour. Agr. Chem. Soc. Japan, 

 16, 1940, 345.) From retted kenaf 

 (;Hibiscus) . 



Listerella hominis, Listerella hovina, 

 Listerella gallinarutn, Listerella cunicula 

 and Listerella gerbilli Wramby. (Skand. 

 Vet.-Tidskrift, 34, 1944, 280.) These 

 names are given to indicate cultures of 

 Listerella monocytogenes from man, cat- 

 tle, chickens, rabbits and gerbilles, 

 respectively. 



Listerella ovis Gill. (Australian Vet. 

 Jour., 13, 1937, 47.) Causes circling 

 disease of sheep. 



Burn (Jour. Bact., 30, 1935, 573) 

 reports, but does not name, a new species 

 in this genus. 



