FAMILY BACILLACEAE 



811 



sextum Pr^vot, Man. d. Class., etc., 

 1940, 136.) From Latin, of flesh. 



Description from Hall and Duffett, 

 Jour. Bact., 29, 1935, 269. 



Rods: 0.5 to 0.7 by 1.5 to 4.5 microns, 

 occurring singly, in pairs, rarely in 

 chains of 3 to 4 cells. Motile with peri- 

 trichous flagella. Spores oval to elongate, 

 subterminal, slightly swelling rods. 

 Gram-positive. 



Gelatin : Not liquefied or blackened. 



Agar surface colonies (aerobic): 

 Minute, transparent dew-drops, becom- 

 ing flat and lobate. 



Blood agar surface colonies (aerobic): 

 Similar to plain agar. Slight hemolysis. 



Deep agar colonies : Lenticular, becom- 

 ing nodular to arborescent. 



Milk : Abundant gas, but no coagulation 

 or other change. 



Indole not formed. 



Acid and gas from glucose, galactose, 

 fructose, maltose, lactose, sucrose, amyg- 

 dalin, salicin and dextrin. Trehalose, 

 raffinose, xylose, arabinose, starch, inulin, 

 mannitol, dulcitol, sorbitol, glycerol and 

 inositol not fermented. 



Coagulated albumin not liquefied. 



Blood serum not liquefied. 



Brain medium not blackened or 

 digested. 



Pathogenic for guinea pig, white rat and 

 rabbit. Forms an e.xotoxin of moderate 

 intensity, producing edema, necrosis and 

 death on sufficient dosage. 



Grows well at both 37°C and at room 

 temperature. 



Anaerobic and microaerophilic; grow- 

 ing delicately on aerobic agar slants. 



Source : Originally isolated from a 

 rabbit inoculated with garden soil (von 

 Hibler) ; from contaminated beef infu- 

 sion (Klein). 



Habitat : Probably occurs in soil. 



60. Clostridium histolyticum (Wein- 

 berg and Seguin) Bergey et al. {Bacillus 

 histolyticus Weinberg and Seguin, Compt. 

 rend. Acad. Sci., Paris, 163, 1916, 449; 

 Weinbergillus histolyticus Heller, Jour. 

 Bact., 7, 1922, 9; Bergey et al., Manual, 



1st ed., 1923, 328.) From Greek, tissue- 

 dissolving. 



Rods: 0.5 to 0.7 by 3.0 to 5.0 microns, 

 occurring singlj' and in pairs. Motile 

 with peritrichous flagella. Spores oval, 

 subterminal, swelling rods. Gram- 

 positive. 



Gelatin : Complete liquefaction in 24 

 hours. 



Blood agar surface colonies (aerobic): 

 Minute, round dew-drops. Blood is 

 hemolyzed. 



Deep agar colonies : Variable; from len- 

 ticular, lobate, to fluff'y, according to the 

 agar concentration. 



Agar slant (aerobic ) : Grows aerobically 

 in barely perceptible film, or in tinj-, 

 smooth, discrete colonies. 



Broth: Turbid, with slight precipitate. 



Indole not formed. 



Nitrites not produced from nitrates. 



Litmus milk: Softly coagulated, then 

 slowly digested. Little gas is formed. 



Carbohydrates are not fermented. 



Coagulated albumin slowly liquefied. 



Blood serum slowly liquefied with 

 darkened, putrid fluid. 



Brain medium blackened and digested 

 with putrefactive odor. 



Egg-meat medium : Little gas is formed. 

 Meat first reddened, then darkened in 3 

 days. Digestion apparent in about 24 

 hours. Nauseous odor. Tyrosin crystals 

 are abundant after about a week. 



Pathogenic for small laboratory 

 animals. Produces a cytoh'tic e.xotoxin 

 which causes extensive local necrosis and 

 sloughing on injection. Not toxic on 

 feeding. 



Grows well at 37°C. 



.\naerobic and microaerophilic. Grows 

 feebly on aerobic agar slant. 



Source : Originally isolated from war 

 wounds, where it induces active necrosis 

 of tissue. 



Habitat : Not determined, other than 

 source stated. Found occasionally in 

 feces and soil. Apparently widely, but 

 sparsely, dispersed in soil. 



