FAMILY EXTEROBACTERIACEAE 



483 



Acetylmethylcarbinol not produced 

 by the KrdI culture (Breed). 



Pigment formed at 37 °C. Pigment 

 especially soluble in alcohol. 



Optimum temperature 30°C. 



-Aerobic. 



Distinctive characters: It is not cer- 

 tain whether Breunig's original culture 

 was a heavily pigmented strain of Serratia 

 marcescens, or whether it was of the type 

 described above. Cultures of both types 

 have been widely distributed as the Kiel 

 bacillus. Descriptions drawn up by 

 Kruse (loc. cit.) and Lehmann and Neu- 

 mann {loc. cit.) in 1896 state that this 

 bacterium produces visible gas. while 

 Migula in 1900 gives a description which 

 fits Serratia marcescens. Moreover, cul- 

 tures obtained under this name from 

 various laboratories in Europe and Amer- 

 ica are sometimes of one type and some- 

 times of the other. As the Krdl culture 

 distributed as Bacillus ruber balticus is 

 widely known and has now been shown to 

 differ from Serratia marcescens in that it 

 is a distinct rod in ordinary media, forms 

 visible gas from carbohydrates and even 

 more abundant gas from sodium formate 

 media, the name Serratia kilensis is used 

 here for the Krdl culture. Serratia 

 kilensis is a distinct rod like Serratia 

 plymuthicum, but fails to produce acetyl- 

 methylcarbinol. This use of the name 

 Serratia kilensis given here also accords 

 with the description drawn up by Bergey 

 for the first edition of the Manual based 

 on the study of a culture which he ob- 

 tained many j-ears previously from Eu- 

 rope (Breed). 



Source : From water at Kiel, Germany. 

 Habitat : Presumably widely dis- 

 tributed. 



5. Serratia piscatonim (Lehmann and 

 Neumann) Breed. (Microbe rouge de la 

 sardine, Du Bois Saint-S^vrin, Ann. Inst. 

 Past., 8, 1894, 155; Bacterium piscatorum 

 Lehmann and Neumann, Bakt. Diag., 1 

 Aufl., 2, 1896, 263; Bacillus ruber sardi- 

 nae Kruse, in Fliigge, Die Mikroorganis- 



men, 3 Aufl., 2, 1896, 302 ; Bacterium ruber 

 sardinae Chester, Ann. Rept. Del. Col. 

 Agr. E.xp. Sta., 9, 1897, 112; Bacillus 

 sardinae ^ligula, Syst. d. Bakt., 2, 1900, 

 852; Bacillus piscatorus Chester, Man. 

 Determ. Bact., 1901, 257.) From Latin 

 piscatorum, of fishermen. 



Short rods: 0.5 by 0.6 micron, occur- 

 ring in pairs, sometimes in fours or (in 

 broth) in long filaments. Actively mo- 

 tile. Gram-negative. 



Gelatin colonies: Small, yellowish-gray 

 becoming pink, very slimy. Carmine- 

 red pellicle. Liquefaction. 



Gelatin stab : Rapid liquefaction. 

 Grayish pellicle which becomes red after 

 24 hours and later precipitates. Slimy. 



Agar colonies: Dull, white to pinkish 

 growth. 



Broth : Rapid turbidity. Thick, slimy, 

 white pellicle which later turns red. 

 Purplish sediment. Liquid becomes 

 pink and syrupy. In old cultures the 

 broth is brown. 



Potato: At 37° to 39°C, red pigment 

 visible after 8 hours. At room tempera- 

 tures growth is first white, slimy, later 

 red. 



Strong odor of trimethylamine. 



Distinctive characters : Pigment sol- 

 uble in alcohol, more soluble in water. 

 Good pigment production at 37°C. Slimi- 

 ness. 



Source : Isolated in 1893 from a box of 

 oil-packed sardines at a canning-factory 

 in France. Also found in the red pus 

 from fishermen and sardine-factorj'- 

 workers suffering from felons. In these 

 lesions, this organism is associated with 

 an anaerobe, but by itself it is not 

 pathogenic. 



Habitat : Presumably widely dis- 

 tributed. 



Appendix: Serratia marcescens has 

 frequently been described under other 

 names, particularly where brilliantly 

 pigmented cultures have been found. 

 Some of these and other related species 

 are listed below. It is known that white 



