Note: Species incertae sedis. At least twelve additional species that appear to be identical with or closely related to thefour species described in full have been reported in the literature. These were isolated from water, aquatic animals (midgelarvae, leeches, fishes) or dairy products. It should also be noted that at least one plant pathogen (Xanthomonas proteamaculans) is listed in the MANUAL as producing acid and gas from glucose and related sugars. A monographie study of these organisms is needed. The descriptions of some species that were found before 1900 appear to be as adequate as are the early deseriptions of Aeromonas liquefaciens. No attempt has been made to determine which specific epithet or epithets have priority.
Genus V. Photobacterium Beijerinck, 1889, emend. Breed and Lessel, 1954.[1]
(Beijerinck, Arch, néerl. d. Sci. exact, et natur., 23, 1889, 401; Photobacter Beijerinck, Proc. Sect. Sci., Kon. Akad. v. Wetensch., Amsterdam, 3, 1900, 352; ? Photomonas Orla-Jensen (nomen nudum), Jour. Bact., 6, 1921, 271; Breed and Lessel, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, 20, 1954, 60.)
Pho.to.bac.te'ri.um. Gr. noun phōs light; Gr. neut.dim.n. bacterium a small rod; M.L. neut.n. Photobacterium light (-producing) bacterium.
Coccobacilli and occasional rods which, in the presence of glucose and asparagine, tend to ramify in a manner analogous to that of bacteroids. Polar flagellate when motile. The type species is normally non-motile but shows motility in young cultures (Kluyver). May or may not liquefy gelatin. Produce acid, or acid and visible gas (H2 and CO2), from glucose and other carbohydrates but not from lactose. Luminescent. Growth and luminescence best, or even exclusively, on salt-water media containing 3 to 5 per cent salt. Found on dead fish and other salt-water animals and in sea water. Reports by various authors indicate that the luminescent, coccoid and rod-shaped bacteria found living symbiotically in the tissues of the phosphorescent organs of various cephalopods and deep-sea fishes also belong to this genus. Other coccoid and rod-shaped luminescent bacteria found in the blood of Crustacea and caterpillars appear to be parasitic or even pathogenic.
The type species is Photobacterium phosphoreum (Cohn) Ford.
Key to the species of genus Photobacterium.[2]
I. Coccobacilli which produce acid and gas from glucose.
- A. Saprophytic on dead fish, crustacea, meat and similar products.
1. Photobacterium phosphoreum.
- B. Symbiotic, found in the photogenic organ of a cephalopod.
2. Photobacterium pierantonii.
II. Short rods which produce acid but no gas from glucose.
- A. No growth at 37° C.
3. Photobacterium fischeri.
- B. Grows well at 37° C.
4. Photobacterium harveyi.
1. Photobacterium phosphoreum (Cohn, 1878) Ford, 1927 (Micrococcus phosphoreus Cohn, see letter addressed to J. Penn, Verzameling van stukken betreffende het geneeskundig staatstoezicht in Nederland, 1878, 126; Bacterium phosphorescens Fischer, Cent. f. Bakt., 3, 1888, 107; Photobacterium phosphorescens Bei-
