926 



MANUAL OF DETERMINATIVE BACTERIOLOGY 



Description from Erikson, Med. Res. 

 Council, London, Special Report Ser. 

 240, 1940, 63 pp. 



No aerial hyphae. Radiate, sulfur- 

 colored granules occur in the pus found in 

 cases of actinomycosis. Large club- 

 shaped hyphae are seen in morbid tissues. 

 Gram-positive. Xon-motile. Not acid- 

 fast. 



Mycelium : Undergoes fragmentation 

 very rapidly, extensive branching is rare. 

 Hyphae less than 1 micron in diameter. 



Colonies : Smoother and softer in con- 

 sistency, and more uniform than in the 

 following species. The colonies are not 

 adherent to the medium and growth is 

 scantier. 



Semi-solid media: E.xcellent growth, 

 especially with paraffin seal. 



Gelatin : Occasionally scant, flaky 

 growth. No liquefaction. 



Liquid media : Occasional turbidity 

 with a light flocculent growth. 



Acid from glucose, sucrose and maltose. 

 No acid from salicin and mannitol. 



Pigments : No soluble pigments pro- 

 duced on protein media. No insoluble 

 pigments produced by growth. 



Egg or serum media: No proteolytic 

 action. 



Litmus milk : Becomes acid but usually 

 no coagulation, no peptonization. Some- 

 times no growth. 



No hemolysis in blood broth or blood 

 agar. 



Serology: No cross agglutination be- 

 tween five bovine strains and human 

 strains of Actinomyces israeli. No cross 

 reactions with representative aerobic 

 strains. 



Optimum temperature 37°C. 



Anaerobic to microaerophilic. Bovine 

 strains are more oxygen-tolerant on egg 

 or serum media than strains of human 

 origin belonging to the following species. 



As pointed out by Lignieres and Spitz 

 (Bull. Soc. cent. Med. vet., 20, 1902, 487 

 and 546) and others, distinction should be 

 made between the infections produced by 

 Actinomyces bovis and those produced by 



the Gram-negative Actinobacillus now 

 known as Actinobacillus lignieresi. 

 These infections frequently occur in 

 mixed form and are also frequently com- 

 plicated by the presence of pyogenic 

 cocci (Magnussen, Acta path. Microbiol. 

 Scand., 5, 1928, 170; and others). 



Source : Originally found in lumpy jaw 

 of cattle. 



Habitat : Frequently found in and 

 about mouth of cattle and probably other 

 animals. Lesions may also be produced 

 in the liver, udder or other organs of 

 cattle and hogs. Possibly also in human 

 mouth (Naeslund, Acta path. Microbiol. 

 Scand., 2, 1925, 110). 



This and the following species are 

 sometimes regarded as being identical 

 (see Emmons, Public Health Repts., 

 U.S.P.H.S., 53, 1935, 1967; Rosebury, 

 Bact. Rev., 8, 1944, 190; and others). 



2. Actinomyces israeli (Kruse) 

 Lachner-Sandoval. (Strahlenpilz, Wolff 

 and Israel, Arch. f. path. Anat., 126, 

 1891, 11; Streptothrix israeli Kruse, in 

 Fliigge, Die Mikroorganismen, 3 Aufl., 

 2, 1896, 56; Actinomyces israeli Lachner- 

 Sandoval, Inaug. Diss., Strassburg, 1898, 

 64; Discomyces israeli Gedoelst, Les 

 champignons parasites de I'homme et 

 des animaux domestiques, 1902, 163; 

 Actinobacterium israeli Sampietro, Ann. 

 d'Ig. sperim., 18, 1908, 331 ; Cohnistrepto- 

 thrix israeli Pinoy, Bull. Inst. Pasteur, 

 Paris, 11, 1913, 931; Nocardia israeli 

 Castellani and Chalmers, Man. Trop. 

 Med., 2nd ed., 1913, 814; Anaeromyces 

 bronchitica Castellani, Douglas and 

 Thomson, Jour. Trop. Med. Hyg., 24, 

 1921, 149; Cohni streptothrix bronchitica 

 Verdun and Mandoul, Precis Parasitol., 

 1924, 754; Brevistreptothrix israeli Lig- 

 nieres, Annales de Parasit., 2, 1924, 2; 

 Proactinomyces israeli Negroni, Compt. 

 rend. Soc. Biol., Paris, 117, 1934, 1239; 

 Corynebacterium israeli Haupt and Zeki, 

 Cent. f. Bakt., I Abt., Orig., 130, 1933, 

 [}o;Ons])ora israeli, quoted from Nanuizzi, 



