FA\nLY BACILLACEAE 



725 



until 1917 (McCray, Jour. Agr. Research, 

 8, 1917, 410). Resembles Bacillus latero- 

 sporus (White, U. S. Dept. Agric. Bull. 

 810, 1920, 14). According to the rules of 

 priority, the name to be used is Bacillus 

 laterosporus. 



Spores : Ellipsoidal, 1.0 to 1.3 by 1.2 to 

 1.5 microns, central to subterminal, 

 formed close to one side, remnants of the 

 sporangium adhering to the other side. 



Sporangia: Swollen, spindle-shaped. 



Rods : 0.5 to 0.8 by 2.0 to 5.0 microns, 

 occurring singly and in pairs. Ends 

 pointed or poorly rounded. Cells from 

 glucose nutrient agar may have few small 

 fat globules. Motile. Gram-variable. 



Gelatin stab: Slow liquefaction. 



Agar colonies : Thin, transparent, irreg- 

 ular, spreading. Colonies of rough 

 strains are small, round, convex, non- 

 spreading. 



Agar slant: Growth moderate, flat, 

 translucent to opaque, moist, sometimes 

 with a silvery sheen. 



Broth : Uniform to granular turbidity ; 

 usually no pellicle. Glucose broth cul- 

 tures, pH 6.0 to 6.4. 



Milk: Usually curdled, peptonized. 



Milk agar plate: Occasionally weak 

 hydrolysis of casein. 



Potato: Growth thin, spreading, gray- 

 ish to pinkish, turning light brown with 

 age. Sometimes finely wrinkled. 



Nitrites produced from nitrates. 



Starch is not hydrolyzed. 



Acid (with ammoniacal nitrogen) from 

 glucose, fructose, maltose, glycerol, and 

 mannitol. Reaction variable on galac- 

 tose, mannose, and salicin. No acid from 

 arabinose, rhamnose, xylose, sucrose, 

 lactose, raffinose, inulin, and dextrin. 



Acetylmethylcarbinol not produced. 



Citrates not utilized as sole source of 

 carbon. 



Optimum temperature about 28°C. 

 Maximum temperature allowing growth 

 37°C to 45°C. 



Aerobic. 



Source : Isolated from water. 



Habitat: Widely distributed in soil, 

 water and dust. 



14. Bacillus brevis Migula emend. 

 Ford. (Bacillus No. I, Fliigge, Ztschr. f. 

 Hyg., 17, 1894, 294; Bacillus laciis No. I, 

 Kruse, in Fliigge, Die Mikroorganismen, 

 3 Aufl., 2, 1896, 208; Migula, Syst. d. 

 Bakt., 2, 1900, 583; not Bacillus brevis 

 Frankland and Frankland, Microorgan- 

 isms in Water, 1894, 429; Bacillus fliiggei 

 Chester, Man. Determ. Bact., 1901, 281; 

 Ford, Jour. Bact., /, 1916, 522.) From 

 Latin brevis, short. 



Synonym : Bacillus centrosporus Ford, 

 Jour. Bact., /, 1916,524. 



There is some doubt as to the identity 

 of Migula's Bacillus brevis which origi- 

 nally was Fliigge's Bacillus No. I. Neide 

 (Cent. f. Bakt., II Abt., 12, 1904, 337) 

 also renamed Fliigge's organism. He 

 called it Bacillus lactis and described it 

 sufficiently that it may be recognized as 

 a strain of Bacillus cereus. Ford believed 

 that his isolations from milk, soil and dust 

 conformed to Migula's description of 

 Bacillus brevis. Ford's interpretation 

 has been accepted. The species has ap- 

 parently become well established in 

 Europe (Gibson and Topping, Soc. Agric. 

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

 as well as in America. 



Description from Ford and from Smith, 

 Gordon, and Clark {loc. cit.). 



Spores : Ellipsoidal, 1.0 to 1.3 by 1.5 to 

 2.0 microns, central to subterminal. 

 Spore walls thick and stainable. An 

 occasional strain shows the relationship 

 of this species to Bacillus laterosporus in 

 that some of the spores may be lateral and 

 remnants of the sporangia may adhere to 

 one side of the spore. 



Sporangia: Definiteh' swollen, spindle- 

 shaped to clavate. 



Rods: 0.4 to 0.8 by 1.5 to 5.0 microns, 

 with pointed ends, occurring singly or in 

 pairs. On glucose agar cells contain 

 numerous small fat globules. Motile. 

 Gram-variable. 



Gelatin stab: Slow liquefaction. 



Agar colonies : Thin, flat, translucent, 

 smooth, quickly spreading over plate. 



Agar slants : Growth smooth, moist, 

 spreading, grayish white. 



