438 



MANUAL OF DETERMINATIVE BACTERIOLOGY 



species as occurring in the slime of a had- 

 dock {Melanogramrnus aeglefinus). 

 Habitat : Fresh and salt water. 



23. Flavobacterium ferrugineum Sick- 

 lesand Shaw. (Jour. Bact., 28, 1934, 421.) 

 From Latin f err ugineus, resembling rust. 



Small, slender rods: Less than 0.5 by 

 0.7 to 1.0 micron, occurring singly and in 

 pairs. Non-motile. Gram-negative. 



Gelatin : Liquefaction in one week at 

 37°C ; at room temperature liquefaction 

 slower, napiform ; yellow sediment along 

 line of puncture. 



Blood agar colonies: Dull, rust-colored, 

 1 mm in diameter, round, entire, umbili- 

 cate, rather dry. 



Agar colonies: Similar to blood agar 

 colonies but yellowish-gray in color. 



Blood agar slants: Moderate growth, 

 rust-colored, rather drj'. 



Agar slants: Growth very slight, thin, 

 yellowish-gray. 



Beef -infusion broth: No growth. 



Beef extract broth : Moderate even tur- 

 bidity. Adding type -specific carbohy- 

 drate results in a heavier growth with 

 yellow sediment. 



Potato : Moderate growth, bright orange 

 in color. Potato darkened. 



Very active hydrolysis of starch. 



Acid but no gas from glucose, lactose, 

 sucrose, maltose, dextrin and inulin ; very 

 slight action on mannitol; no action on 

 salicin. 



Limits of growth: Optimum pH 7.0 to 

 7.5. Minimum 6.5. Maximum 9.0. 



Temperature relations: Optimum 35° 

 to 37 °C. Minimum 22°C. Maximum 

 39°C. Thermal death point 52°C for 10 

 minutes. Enzyme produced by strain 

 against pneumococcus carbohydrate with- 

 stands 56°C for 10 minutes. 



Facultative aerobe. 



Distinctive character : Decomposes the 

 non-type-specific carbohydrate obtained 

 from a degraded type I pneumococcus. 



Source: Several, strains isolated from 

 swamps and other uncultivated soils. 



Habitat: Soil. 



24. Flavobacterium proteus Shimwell 

 and Grimes. (Bacterium Y, Shimwell 

 and Grimes, Jour. Inst. Brewing, 4-3, N.S. 

 23, 19.36, 119 ; Shimwell and Grimes, ibid., 

 348.) From Latin Proteus, a sea god who 

 often changed in form. 



Rods: 0.8 to 1.2 by 1.5 to 4.0 microns, 

 occurring singly or in chains, and having 

 rounded ends. Highly pleomorphic. 

 Thickened filaments and spindle-shaped 

 swellings common . Probably non-motile . 

 Gram-negative. 



Wort-gelatin plate : Surface colonies 

 irregular, up to 1 mm in diameter, gray- 

 ish-white or yellowish, fiat or slightly 

 raised, margin entire to lobate or crenate. 

 Deep colonies circular, small, yellowish. 



Wort-gelatin streak: Scanty, filiform or 

 beaded, .slightly raised, at first almost 

 transparent, later more opaque and whit- 

 ish-buff. 



Wort-gelatin stab : Scanty, filiform or 

 beaded, almost colorless. No liquefac- 

 tion. 



Wort-agar plate: Colonies small, pale, 

 buff-colored, resembling bread-crumbs in 

 shape . 



Wort-agar streak : Similar to wort-gela- 

 tin streak. Sometimes a slight metallic 

 sheen on old cultures. 



Broth : Turbid in 24 hours at 30°C, with 

 a slight surface scum. 



Litmus milk : Unchanged. 



Potato: A slight, barely visible growth 

 consisting of a narrow filiform dirty yel- 

 low line. 



Indole not produced. 



Nitrites are produced from nitrates. 



Acetymethylcarbinol not produced. 



Starch not hydrolyzed. 



Small amount of acid and gas from glu- 

 cose and maltose. Trace of acid but no 

 gas from sucrose. No acid or gas from 

 lactose. 



Acid, gas and ethyl alcohol produced in 

 small quantity from wort together with a 

 pronounced parsnip-like odor. 



Optimum pH 5.0. No growth at pH 

 4.0. 



Temperature relations : Optimum 32°C. 



