714 



MANUAL OF DETERMINATIVE BACTERIOLOGY 



Spores: Ellipsoidal, central to subter- 

 minal, 0.7 to 0.8 by 1.0 to 1.3 microns. 



Sporangia: Ellipsoidal to cylindrical, 

 may be slightly swollen. 



Rods : 0.6 1o 0.7 by 2.0 to 3.0 microns, 

 occurring singly or in pairs. Motile with 

 peritrichous flagella. Gram-positive. 



Gelatin stab : No liquefaction. No 

 change in gelatin by Frazier method. 



Agar colonies: Small, smooth, entire, 

 glistening, white, opaque. 



Agar slants : Growth only moderate, 

 slow, thin, gray to white, opaque, not 

 spreading. Nogrowth at pH G.Oor below. 

 Growth inhibited by glucose because of 

 the change to acid reaction. 



Broth : Faint uniform turliidity, granu- 

 lar sediment. 



Milk: Unchanged. 



Milk agar plate: Casein not hydro- 

 lyzed. 



Potato: No growth. 



Nitrites not produced from nitrates. 



Starch is hydrolyzed. 



Acid from arabinose, xylose, glucose, 

 sucrose, and lactose. Inorganic nitrogen 

 not utilized. 



Acetylmethylcarbinol not formed. 



Citrates not used as sole source of 

 carbon. 



Urease produced . Urea decomposed at 

 room temperature, feebly at 37°C. 



Salt tolerance : Will grow in nutrient 

 broth containing 4 per cent NaCl. 



Optimum temperature about 25°C. 

 Maximum temperature allowing growth 

 37°C. 



Growth on most media is increased by 

 the addition of urea. 



Aerobic. 



Source: Nine strains isolated from 

 soils. 



Habitat : Common in soils. 



6. Bacillus megatherium De Bar\-. 

 {Bacillus 7negaleriuin (sic) Do Bary, 

 Vergleichende Morph. und Biol, der 

 Pilze, 1884, 499.) Generally assumed 

 that the original spelling was a typo- 

 graphical error and that the later spelling 



megatherium comes from Greek roots 

 meaning big animal (Breed, Science, 70, 

 1929, 480). Ripple (Arch. Mikrobiol., 



11, 1940, 470) holds that the original 

 spelling meaning big rod is the correct 

 form . 



Synonyms as given by Smith, Gordon, 

 and Clark {loc. cit.) : Bacillus capri 

 Stapp, Cent. f. Bakt., II Abt., 51, 1920, 

 19; Bacillus carotarum Koch, Bot. Zeit., 

 18, 1888, 277 (Bacterium carotarum Mig- 

 ula, Syst. d. Bakt., 2, 1900, 293); Ba- 

 cillus cobayac Stapp, Cent. f. Bakt., II 

 Abt., 51, 1920, 10; Bacillus danicus 

 Lohnis and Westermann, Cent. f. Bakt., 

 II Abt., 22, 1908, 258; Bacillus graveolens 

 Gottheil, Cent. f. Bakt., II Abt., 7, 1901, 

 496 and 535; Bacillus malaharensis 

 Lohnis and Pillai, Cent. f. Bakt., II 

 Abt., 19, 1907, 91; Bacillus musculi 

 Stapp, Cent. f. Bakt., II Abt., 51, 1920, 

 39; Bacillus oxalaticus Migula, Arb. a. d. 

 bakt. Inst. d. Tech. Hochschule z. 

 Karlsruhe, 1, Heft, 1, 1894, 139; Bacillus 

 petasites Gottheil, Cent. f. Bakt., II 

 Abt., 7, 1901, 535 (Lawrence and Ford, 

 Jour. Bact., 1, 1916, 273); Bacillus ru- 

 minatus Gottheil, ibid., 496; Bacillus 

 silvaticus Neide, Cent. f. Bakt., II Abt., 



12, 1904, 32; Bacillus turnescens Zopf, 

 Die Spaltpilze, 1 Aufl., 1883, 66 (Zopfiella 

 turnescens Trevisan, Car. d. ale. nuov. 

 gen. di Batter., 1885, 4). 



Other possible synonyms given by 

 Neide {loc. cit., 11): Bacterium hirtum 

 Henrici, Arb. bakt. Inst. Karlsruhe, 1, 

 1894, 44 {Pseudomonas hirtum Ellis, 

 Cent. f. Bakt., II Abt., 11, 1903, 243; 

 Bacillus hirtus Ellis, Ann. Bot., 20, 1906, 

 233); Bacillus brassicae Pommer, Mitt, 

 botan. Inst. Graz, 1, 1886, 95 {Bacterium 

 brassicae Migula, Syst. d. Bakt., 2, 1900, 

 296) . 



Although the name Bacillus turnescens 

 Zopf (which is here regarded as a probable 

 synonym) has priority over Bacillus 

 megatherium, the latter name is preferred 

 because of general usage. Neither of the 

 original descriptions is sufficiently de- 

 tailed to characterize adequately the 



