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MANUAL OF DETERMINATIVE BACTERIOLOGY 



1. Klebsiella pneumoniae (Schroeter) 

 Trevisan. (Pneumoniecoccus, Fried- 

 laender, Arch. f. Path. Anat., 87, 1882, 

 319; Baclerium pneumonie crouposae 

 Zopf, Die Spaltpilze, 3 Aufl., 1885, 66; 

 Klebsiella crouposa Trevisan, Atti della 

 Accad. Fisio-Medico-Statistica in Mil- 

 ano, Ser. 4, 3, 1885, 105; Hyalococcus 

 pneumoniae Schroeter, in Cohn, Krypto- 

 gamen Flora von Schlesien, 3(1), 1886, 

 152; Bacillus pneumoniae Fliigge, Die 

 Mikroorganismen, 2 Aufi., 1886, 204; 

 Trevisan, Rend. d. R. Istit. Lombardo, 

 Ser. 2, 20, 1887, 94 ; Klebsiella friedlanderi 

 Trevisan, I generi e le specie delle Bat- 

 teriacee, 1889, 26; Bacillus mucosus 

 capsulatus Paulsen, Mittheil. f. d. Verein 

 Schleswig-Holsteiner Aerzte, 2, 1893, 

 No. 7; Bacterium pneumoniae Lehmann 

 and Neumann, Bakt. Diag., 1 Aufl., 2, 

 1896, 200; Bacterium pneumonicum Mig- 

 ula, Syst. d. Bakt., 2, 1900, 350; Bacillus 

 friedlanderi Mac^, Traits Pratique de 

 Bact., 4th ed., 1901, 771; Encapsulatus 

 pneumoniae Castellani and Chalmers, 

 Man. Trop. Med., 3rd ed., 1919, 934; 

 Coccobacillus friedlanderi Neveu- 

 Lemaire, Precis Parasitol. Hum., 5th 

 ed., 1921, 20; Proteus pneumoniae Weklin, 

 Iowa State Coll. Jour. Sci., 1, 1926, 

 149; Bacterium friedlander Weldin, idem; 

 Bacillus niucosus-capsulatus Mason and 

 Beattie, Arch, of Internal Med., 42, 

 1928, 331.) From Greek, of pneumonia. 



Rods: 0.3 to 0.5 by 5.0 microns, with 

 rounded ends, often four to five times as 

 long as broad, occurring singly and in 

 pairs. Encapsulated. Non-motile. 

 Gram-negative. 



Gelatin colonies: Dirty-white, smooth, 

 opaque, entire, slightly raised. 



Gelatin stab : Dirty-white surface 

 growth. Filiform growth in stab. No 

 liquefaction. Gas bubbles. 



Agar colonies: White, shiny, convex, 

 smooth, glistening, entire. 



Agar slant: Slimy, white, somewhat 

 translucent, raised growth. 



Broth : Turbid, with thick ring or film. 



Litmus milk: Variable. 



Potato: Yellowish, slimy, raised 

 growth. Gas is formed. 



Nitrites produced from nitrates. 



Indole variable, usually not formed. 



Fermentation of carbohydrates highly 

 variable. Acid and gas may be formed 

 from glucose, lactose, sucrose, fructose, 

 galactose, maltose, mannitol and inositol. 



Methyl red test variable. 



Acetylmethylcarbinol production vari- 

 able. 



Blood agar: Usually no hemolysis. 



Utilization of citrate as a sole source of 

 carbon variable. 



Aerobic, facultative. 



Optimum temperature 37°C. 



Common name : Friedliinder's pneumo- 

 bacillus. 



Source : Originally isolated from spu- 

 tum in pneumonia. 



Habitat : Associated with infections of 

 the respiratory, intestinal and genito- 

 urinary tracts of man. Encountered in 

 infections of animals and may be isolated 

 from a wide variety of sources. 



Note : The difficulty experienced in 

 distinguishing members of this genus 

 from those of Escherichia and Aerobacter 

 is recognized. The members of these 

 three genera exist in at least three 

 growth phases, mucoid (capsulated), 

 smooth and rough. 



Working with the mucoid phase of 

 Klebsiella, Julianelle (Jour. Exp. Med., 

 U, 1926, 113, 683, 735; 52, 1930, 539) de- 

 scribed three serological types. A, B and 

 C on the basis of capsular specific polj^- 

 saccharides. There is evidence that 

 other types exist. The presence of a 

 generic specific somatic antigen pattern 

 has not been definitely accepted. 



Appendix: The following organisms 

 may be placed in Klebsiella. The evi- 

 dence for differentiating them into dis- 

 tinct species is so meagre that for the 

 present it may be better to consider them 

 as varieties of Klebsiella pneumoniae. 



Klebsiella adanti Hauduroy et al. 



