722 



MAXUAL OF DETERMINATIVE BACTERIOLOGY 



Bacillus macerans: Aerohacillvs sclunjl- 

 killiensis Eisenberg, Jour. Amer. Water 

 Works Assoc, S4, 1942, 365. It is said to 

 differ from Bacillus macerans in that 

 sorbitol is not fermented, hydrogen sul- 

 fide is produced and gelatin is liquefied. 



Spores: Ellipsoidal, 1.0 to 1.5 by 1.5 to 

 2.5 microns, terminal to subterminal ; wall 

 thick and stainable. 



Sporangia : Swollen terminally, clavate. 



Rods : O.G to 1.0 by 2.5 to 6.0 microns, 

 occurring singly or in pairs , cells are larger 

 on sugar media than on sugar-free media, 

 and contain a few small fat globules. 

 Motile. Gram-variable. 



Gelatin stab: Liquefaction variable 

 (see optimum temperature). Gelatin is 

 hydrolyzed as determined by the Frazier 

 technic (30°C). 



Agar colonies : Small, thin, transparent 

 to whitish, irregular, usually smooth. 



Agar slant : Growth moderate, spread- 

 ing, inconspicuous. 



Broth: Turbid, slight sediment. In 

 sugar broths some strains produce slime. 

 Glucose broth cultures, pH 5.0 to 5.5. 



Milk: Acid and gas. No visible 

 peptonization. 



Milk agar plate: Casein not hydro- 

 lyzed in one week; later usually slight 

 hydrolysis. 



Potato : Growth indistinct, gas is 

 formed and the potato is digested. 

 Fruity odor sometimes produced. 



Nitrites produced from nitrates. 



Starch is hydrolyzed. 



Acid and gas from arabinose, rhamnosc, 

 xylose, glucose, fructose, galactose, man- 

 nose, sucrose, maltose, lactose, trehalose, 

 cellobiose, raffinose, melezitose, dextrin, 

 inulin, salicin, pectin, xylan, glycerol, 

 mannitol, and sorbitol. Erythritol, 

 adonitol, dulcitol, and inositol not fer- 

 mented (Porter, McCleskey, and Levine, 

 loc. cit.). 



Produces acetone and ethyl but never 

 butyl alcohol ; ratio acetone to alcohol is 

 1:2. 



Acetylmethylcarbinol not produced. 



Citrates not utilized as sole source of 

 carbon. 



Optimum temperature about 37°C. 

 Good growth at 42° to 45°C and some- 

 times slightly higher ; poor growth, if any, 

 at20°C. 



Differentiated from Bacillus polymyxa 

 by the production of crystalline dextrins 

 from starch, lack of formation of acetyl- 

 methylcarbinol, and by growth at 42°C 

 to 45°C. 



All strains agglutinated by homologous 

 sera but not by Bacillus pohjmyxa serum. 



Aerobic, facultative. 



For additional literature, see Porter, 

 McCleskey and Levine, Jour. Bact., 33, 

 1937, 180. 



Source : Originally isolated from vats in 

 which flax was retting. 



Habitat: Widely distributed in soil, 

 water, decomposing starchy materials, 

 retting flax, etc. 



11. Bacillus circulans Jordan. (Jor- 

 dan, Exp. Inv., Mass. State Board 

 Health, Part II, 1890, 831; Bacterium 

 circulans Chester, Ann. Rept. Del. 

 Col. Agr. Exp. Sta., 9, 1897, 92; also see 

 Ford, Jour. Bact., 1, 1916, 519.) From 

 Latin circulans, making round or 

 circular. 



Smith, Gordon, and Clark (loc. cit.) 

 consider Bacillus circulans as a complex 

 (see also Gibson and Topping, Soc. Agric. 

 Bact. (British), Abstr. Proc, 1938, 43) 

 because of the variations in the character 

 of the growth and quantitative differences 

 in physiology. All stages of growth may 

 be found from the smooth actively motile 

 strains that have motile colonies to the 

 mucoid, non-spreading strains. The spe- 

 cies is more saccharolytic than proteo- 

 lytic, considerable variation being found 

 in its action on gelatin and casein. The 

 following are regarded as variants : Bacil- 

 lus closteroides Gray and Thornton, Cent. 

 f.Bakt.,IIAbt., 73, 1928, 93; Bewegungs- 

 typus schwarmender Bakterien, Russ- 

 Munger, Cent. f. Bakt., I Abt., Orig., 

 142, 1938, 175; Bacillus krzemieniewski 



