FAMILY ACHROMOBACTERIACEAE 



429 



al., Manual, 1st ed., 1923, 100.) From 

 Latin aquatilis, aquatic. 



Description taken from Frankland and 

 Frankland and from studies by Dr. E. 

 Windle Taylor, Metropolitan Water 

 Board, London, on freshly isolated 

 cultures. 



Rods : 0.5 by 2.5 microns, with rounded 

 ends, occurring singly, in pairs and in 

 chains. Oscillatory movement only ; long 

 threads often remaining motionless 

 (Franklands), Gram-negative (Taylor). 



Gelatin colonies : Center yellow-brown, 

 with radiate arrangement of bundles of 

 threads. Colorless margin. Very slow 

 liquefaction (none in 6 weeks, Taylor). 



Gelatin stab: Yellow surface growth. 

 Slow liquefaction. 



Agar slant : Yellow, smooth, glistening 

 limited growth. 



Broth: Turbid with whitish sediment. 

 No pellicle. 



Litmus milk : Unchanged (Taylor) . 



Potato: Limited, yellow streak to no 

 growth. 



Indole not formed (Taylor) . 



Nitrites not produced from nitrates. 



Aerobic, facultative. 



Optimum temperature 25°C. 



Distinctive characters : Resembles 

 Flavobacterium arborescens microscopi- 

 cally; easily distinguished from this 

 organism by its much slower and limited 

 growth on ordinary gelatin and agar 

 media, the marked difference in the 

 appearance of colonies and the inability 

 of Flavobacterium aquatile to produce 

 more than a limited growth on potato. 



Source : Isolated from the water of 

 deep wells in the chalk region of Kent, 

 England where it occurred as a practically 

 pure culture. Found abundantly and re- 

 isolated by Taylor, 1941 from the same 

 sources (personal communication). 



Habitat : Water. 



Note : The peritrichous, nitrate re- 

 ducing and ammonia producing organism 

 identified by Bergey {loc. cit.) in 1923, as 

 Flavobacterium aquatile appears to have 

 been something resembling Flavobac- 

 terium diffusum. 



2. Flavobacterium diffusum (Frank- 

 land and Frankland) Bergey et al. 

 {Bacillus diffusus G. and P. Frankland, 

 Ztschr. f. Hyg., 6, 1889, 396; Bacterium 

 diffusus Chester, Ann. Rept. Del. Col. 

 Agr. Exp. Sta., 9, 1897, 97; Bergey et al., 

 Manual, 1st ed., 1923, 100.) From Latin 

 diffusus, spreading out, diffuse. 



Description completed from Harrison 

 (Canadian Jour. Res., 1, 1929, 233) as 

 indicated. 



Rods: 0.5 by 1.5 microns, occurring 

 singly and in chains. Motile, possessing 

 peritrichous flagella. Gram-negative 

 (Harrison) . 



Gelatin colonies: Thin, bluish-green, 

 spreading, later faint yellow. 



Gelatin stab : Thin, glistening, yellow'- 

 ish-green surface growth. Slow crateri- 

 form liquefaction. 



Agar slant : Thin, light yellow, glisten- 

 ing. 



Broth: Turbid, with greenish-yellow 

 sediment. 



Litmus milk: Unchanged (Harrison). 



Potato : Thin, smooth, greenish-yellow, 

 glistening growth. 



Indole not formed (Harrison). 



Nitrites produced from nitrates (Har- 

 rison). 



Slight acidity from glucose. No acid 

 from sucrose and lactose (Harrison). 



Aerobic, facultative. 



Optimum temperature 25° to 30°C. 



Source: Originally found in soil. 

 Found also by Tataroff (Die Dorpater 

 Wasserbakterien, Dorpat, 1891, 58) in 

 fresh water and by Harrison (loc. cit.) 

 from skin of halibut from both the At- 

 lantic and Pacific shores of Canada. 



Habitat: Soil, fresh and sea waters. 



3. Flavobacterium okeanokoites Zo- 

 Bell and Upham. (Bull. Scripps Inst, 

 of Oceanography, Univ. Calif., 5, 1944, 

 270.) From Greek Oceanus, the ocean 

 god, the ocean and coites, bed. 



Rods: 0.8 to 0.9 by 1.2 to 1.6 microns, 

 with rounded ends, many coccoid, oc- 

 curring singly and in long chains. 



