410 



MANUAL OF DETERMINATIVE BACTERIOLOGY 



Genus III. Erysipelothrix Rosenhach* 



(Ztschr. f . Hyg., 63, 1909,367.) From Greek erysipelas, a disease; and thrix, hair or 

 thread. 



Rod-shaped organisms with a tendency to the formation of long filaments. The 

 filaments may also thicken and show characteristic granules. Non-motile. Gram- 

 positive. Microaerophilic. Catalase negative. Grow freely on ordinary media. 

 Acid but no gas from glucose and a few additional carbohydrates. Parasitic on mam- 

 mals. 



The type species is Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae (Migula) Winslow etal. 



1. Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae 



(Migula) Winslow et al. (Bacillus des 

 Schweinerotlaufs, Loeffler, Arb. a. d. k. 

 Gesundheitsamte, 1, 1886, 46; Bacillus 

 thuillieri Trevisan, I generi e le specie 

 delle Batteriacee, 1889, 13; Pasteurella 

 thuillieri DeToni and Trevisan, in Sae- 

 cardo, Sylloge Fungorum, 8, 1889, 995; 

 Bacillus rhusiopathiae suis Kitt, Bak- 

 terienkunde u. path. Mikroscopie, 1893, 

 284; Bacterium erysipelatos suum (sic) 

 Migula, in Engler and Prantl, Die na- 

 tiirl. Pflanzenfam., /, la, 1895, 24; 

 Bacterium rhusiopathiae suis Chester, 

 Ann. Rept. Del. Col. Agr. Exp. Sta., 9, 

 1897, 98; Bacterium rhusiopathiae Migula, 

 Syst. d. Bakt., 2, 1900, 43; Mycobacterium 

 rhusiopathiae Chester, Man. Determ. 

 Bact., 1901, 352; Erysipelothrix porci 

 Rosenbach, Ztschr. f. Hyg., 63, 1909, 

 367; Winslow et al., Jour. Bact., 5, 1920, 

 198; Bacillus erysipelatus-suis Holland, 

 Jour. Bact., 5, 1920, 218; Erysipelothrix 

 erysipelatos-suis Holland, ibid. Bacillus 

 ruboris suis Neveu-Lemaire, Precis Para- 

 sitol. Hum., 5th ed., 1921, 24; Nocardia 

 thuillieri Vuillemin, Encyclopedic My- 

 cologique, Paris, 2, 1931, 125; Actino- 

 myces thuillieri Nannizzi, in Pollacci, 

 Tratt. Micopat. Umana, 4, 1934, 45.) 

 From Greek rhusius, reddish; pathus, a 

 disease; red disease. 



Description taken in part from Karl- 

 son, Jour. Bact., 35, 1938, 205. 



Slender rods: 0.2 to 0.3 by 0.5 to 1.5 

 microns, occurring singly and in chains. 

 Non-motile. Gram-positive. 



Gelatin colonies: Hazy, bluish-gray. 



racemose ; situated a little below the 

 surface, growing slowly. 



Gelatin stab : Small, fimbriate colonies 

 in the stab, at times definitely arbores- 

 cent. No surface growth. No lique- 

 faction. 



Agar slant: Scant growth, translucent, 

 moist, homogeneous. 



Broth: Slight turbidity, with scant, 

 grayish sediment. 



Litmus milk: May become slightly 

 acid. 



Indole not formed. 



Potato : Usually no growth. 



Blood serum shows scant growth. 



No gas from carbohydrates. Acid 

 from glucose, galactose, fructose, lactose 

 and more slowly from mannose and cello- 

 biose. No acid from arabinose, xylose, 

 rhamnose, maltose, melibiose, sucrose, 

 trehalose, raffinose, melezitose, dextrin, 

 starch, inulin, amygdalin, salicin, 

 glj'cerol, erythritol, adonitol, manni- 

 tol, sorbitol, dulcitol or inositol. 



Esculin not hydrolyzed. 



Hydrogen sulfide produced. 



Voges-Proskauer test negative. 



Methyl red test negative. 



Methylene blue-reduction test nega- 

 tive. 



Narrow green zone of hemolysis de- 

 velops around deep colonies on blood 

 agar. 



Catalase negative. 



Out of 43 strains studied serologically 

 (Watts, Jour. Path, and Bact., 60, 1940, 

 355), 38 appeared to be of one antigenic 

 group, and 5 of another. 



* Revised by Prof. Robert S. Breed, New York State Experiment Station, August, 

 1938; further revision, January, 1945. 



