support growth under any of the above conditions when added to the mineral me- dium: butyrates, citrates, lactates, malates, malonates, succinates, tartrates or glucose. Indole not produced. Hydrogen sulfide not produced. Nitrites not produced from nitrates. Aerobic. Source: Five strains were isolated from Boston, Mass., and Berkeley, California, soils by inoculation of soil into a medium containing potassium oxalate and other minerals in distilled water. All soil samples tested showed the presence of this species. Ayers, Rupp and Johnson (U. S. Dept. Agr. Bull. No. 782, 1919, 38 pp.) and den Dooren de Jong (Dissertation, Delft, 1926, Table XVIII) tested over 125 strains of bacteria without finding any that decomposed ox- alate. Bassilik (Jahrb. wiss. Bot., 63, 1913, 255) found only three strains out of 90 tested which decomposed oxalate, two slowly; the third was the species described by him (Vibrio extorquens). Habitat: Widely distributed in soil.
24. Vibrio extorquens (Bassalik, 1913) Bhat and Barker, 1948. (Bacilhis extorquens Bassalik, Jahrb. f. wiss. Bot., 53, 1913, 255; Bhat and Barker, Jour. Bact., 55, 1948, 367; Pseudomonas extorquens Janota, Med. Dos- wiadczalna i Mikrobiol., 2, 1950, 131; see Biol. Abstracts, .25,1951, Abs. no. 34148.) ex.tor'quens. L. puTt.ad] . extorquens twist- ing out. Slightly curved rods, 1.5 by 3.0 microns. Motile by means of a single, polar flagel- lum. Gram-negative. Gelatin media: Poor growth. Colonies small (less than 1 mm in diameter in 7 days), round, entire, butyrous. Surface colonies dirty yellow to yellowish red, eventually becoming a beautiful red color. No lique- faction. Oxalate and similar mineral media: Growth rapid and abundant. Peptone-agar colonies: Growth slower than on gelatin. Liquid oxalate media. Grows rapidly as a rose-colored film on the bottom and walls of the flask, leaving the liquid clear. Potato: Slow growth with darkening of potato. Litmus milk: Not coagulated. Reaction becomes alkaline but growth is poor. Aerobic, facultative. Optimum temperature, between 25° and 30° C. Poor growth at 37° C. Optimum pH : Prefers media with an alka- line reaction. Distinctive characters: In old cultures in liquid calcium oxalate media and especially in media made with plant materials con- taining oxalate crystals, the cells become encrusted with a surface deposit. This ap- pears to be calcium carbonate and is easily dissolved with dilute acid, especially dilute HCl. Source: Originally isolated by adding the e.xcreta of earthworms that had ingested plant materials containing oxalate crystals to a liquid medium containing ammonium oxalate. Pure cultures were isolated with difficulty by using a silica gel medium con- taining ammonium oxalate. Later these organisms were found to be generally pres- ent in forest and garden soils in Switzerland. Habitat: Presumably widely distributed in soil.
25. Vibrio cuneatus Gray and Thornton, 1928. (Cent. f. Bakt., II Abt., 73, 1928, 92.) cu.ne.a'tus. L. part. adj. amea/z/s wedge- shaped. Curved rods, 1.0 by 1.0 to 3.0 microns, the cells tapering at one extremity. Motile by means of one to five polar flagella. Gram- negative. Gelatin colonies: Liquefied. Gelatin stab: Liquefied. Agar colonies: Circular to amoeboid, white to buff, flat to convex, smooth, trans- lucent, border entire. Agar slant: Filiform, whitish, smooth, glistening. Indole production not recorded. No acid from carbohydrate media. Starch not hydrolyzed. Nitrites not produced from nitrates. Attacks naphthalene. Aerobic, facultative. Optimum temperature, between 30° and 35° C. Source: One strain was isolated from soil from Rothamsted, England. Habitat: Soil.
