FAMILY BACILLACEAE 



723 



Kleczkowska, Norman and Snieszko, 

 Soil Sci., 4-9, 1940, 185 (a mucoid variant ) . 



Also probable variants : Bacillus platus 

 Soriano, Thesis, Univ. Buenos Aires, 

 1935, 572; Bacillus navifonnis Soriano, 

 ibid., 574 (not Bacillus navifonnis 

 Jungano, Comp. rend. Soc. Biol., Paris, 1, 

 1909, 122). 



Spores : Ellipsoidal, 0.8 to 1.2 by 1.1 to 

 2.0 microns, terminal or subterminal. 

 Spore wall thick and stainable. In some 

 strains spores may be kidney -shaped and 

 remnants of sporangium may adhere. 



Sporangia : Swollen terminally, clavate. 



Rods : 0.5 to 0.9 by 2.0 to 5.0 microns, 

 sometimes curved, usually occurring 

 singly. Cells contain small fat globules 

 when grown on glucose agar. Motile, 

 some strains exceedingly so. Gram- 

 variable, usually negative. 



Gelatin stab : Slow cone-shaped lique- 

 faction, liciuefied portion evaporating 

 (Jordan) ; no liquefaction (Ford). Gela- 

 tin hydrolyzed if tested by the Frazier 

 method. 



Agar colonies: Thin, transparent, 

 spreading over entire surface of plate. 

 Often nearly invisible. The colonies of 

 the rougher or mucoid strains are small, 

 entire, whitish, non-spreading. 



Giant agar colonies : If the surfaces of 

 agar plates are dried before inoculation 

 with very motile strains, instead of 

 spreading as a thin layer of individual 

 cells, minute rotating colonies proceed 

 out from the edge of the colony, some- 

 times becoming entirely disconnected 

 from it. In moving out across the agar 

 surface, non-motile cells are left behind. 

 These vcv&y grow later. Eventually the 

 whole plate is covered. 



Agar slant: Growth thin, transparent, 

 spreading, becoming denser. Mucoid 

 strains are dense, non-spreading, entire, 

 gummy and adherent. 



Broth: Light to fair turbidity with 

 flocculent to slimy sediment. Some 

 strains do not grow perceptibly. In glu- 

 cose broth cultures the final pH is usually 

 5.0 to 5.8. 



Milk: Usually acid, slowly coagulated. 



Milk agar plate: Casein not hydro- 

 lyzed. Weak hydrolysis with some 

 strains. 



Potato: Growth is very variable, from 

 none to good growth, from colorless to 

 yellowish, pink, or brownish. 



Nitrites usually produced from 

 nitrates . 



Starch is hydrolyzed. Crystalline dex- 

 trins usuall}' not formed. 



Acid without gas (with ammoniacal 

 nitrogen) from glucose, fructose, man- 

 nose, galactose, sucrose, maltose, raffi- 

 nose, salicin, and dextrin. Usually acid 

 from arabinose, xylose, lactose, glycerol, 

 and mannitol. Reaction variable with 

 rhamnose and inulin. 



Acetylmethylcarbinol not produced. 



Citrates usually not utilized. 



Methylene blue reduced and then 

 reoxidized. 



Urease produced by some strains. 



Optimum temperature about 30°C. 

 Maximum temperature allowing growth, 

 40°C to 48°C. A few strains will grow 

 up to 52°C. 



This species is closely related to Bacil- 

 lus macerans from which it is distin- 

 guished by the lack of gas formation from 

 carbohydrates and the lack of crystalline 

 dextrins from starch. It is also close to 

 Bacillus alrei as indicated by the key. 



Source : Found occasionally in tap 

 water, Lawrence, Mass. (Jordan). 



Habitat: Widely distributed in soil, 

 water, and dust. 



12. Bacillus alvei Cheshire and 

 Chej'ne. (Jour. Roy. Mic. Soc, Ser. II, 

 5, 1885, 592.) From Latin alveus, bee- 

 hive. 



Probabl}^ identical with the above : 

 Bacillus paraalvei Burnside, Amer. Bee 

 Jour., 72, 1932, 433; Burnside and Foster, 

 Jour. Econ. Entomol., 28, 1935, 578. 



Spores : Ellipsoidal, 0.7 to 1.0 by 1.5 to 

 2.5 microns, central to terminal. Free 

 spores freciuently lie in parallel arrange- 

 ment like the rods. 



