Small, slender rods, 0.2 to 0.3 by 0.5 to 1.0 micron, with pointed ends. Capsules formed are of much finer texture than those surrounding Noguchia granulosis or No- guchia simiae. IMotile by means of six to eight peritrichous flagella. Not acid-fast. Gram-negative. Gelatin agar colonies: Grayish, mucoid, confluent. Gelatin stab: Tenuous, arborescent, non- spreading growth. No liquefaction. Agar colonies: Small, spherical, translu- cent, slightly grayish, smooth, somewhat convex, moist, mucoid, entire. Agar slants: Slightly grayish, translu- cent, coalescent, glistening, mucoid, homo- geneous, non-spreading growth. The water of sj'neresis appears uniformly cloudy or milky depending on the amount of growth. Blood agar colonies: More profuse, more grayish and less translucent than those on plain agar. Leptospira medium: After 24 hours there is a faint, nebulous surface growth followed by an ingrowing sac-like mass, with its base 5 mm across, lying at the center of the under surface and extending for 5 mm into the medium. The area spreads laterally until at about two or three days there is a uniform, opaque, whitish layer about 1 cm thick which progresses slowly until the bottom of the tube is reached in about seven days. Broth: Uniformly turbid; no pellicle. Litmus milk: Unchanged. Potato: Faint, buff-colored (changing to brown after five days), non-spreading, sparse surface growth. Indole not produced. No acid or gas from glucose, fructose, mannose, mannitol, sucrose, raffinose, inulin, galactose, maltose, salicin, xylose, dextrin, arabinose, amygdalin, lactose, dulcitol, rhamnose, trehalose, sorbitol or inositol. Nitrites not produced from nitrates. Aerobic, facultatively anaerobic. Temperature relations: Optimum, be- tween 28° and 30° C. Thermal death point, 56° C. for 15 to 30 minutes. Serological reactions: Rabbit antiserum is specific for all strains, and there is no cross agglutination with Noguchia granulosis or Noguchia simiae. Distinctive characters : No action on car- bohydrates. Agglutination. Source: Isolated from spontaneous con- junctival folliculosis, Type II, of rabbits. Habitat: Causes conjunctival folliculosis in rabbits FAMILY VI. BACTEROIDACEAE BREED, MURRAY AND SMITH, Fam. Nov.^ Bac.te.ro.i.da'ce.ae. M.L. noun Bacteroides type genus of the family; -aceae ending to denote a family; M.L. fem.pl.n. Bacieroidaceae the Bacteroides family. Rods, with rounded or pointed ends, w^hich vary in size from minute, filterable forms to long, filamentous, branching forms; marked pleomorphism may occur. May be motile or non-motile, the motile species possessing peritrichous flagella (rarely, motility has been ob.served without demonstrable flagella). Gram-negative. Body fluids are frequentl}- re- quired for growth and are always stimulative. Simple carbohydrates are usuall}' fermented with the production of acid; gas may be produced in glucose or peptone media. Normally these are strict anaerobes, but occasionally microaerophilic species occur. Found primarily in the intestinal tracts and mucous membranes of warm-blooded animals. Sometimes patho- genic.
- Prof. Robert S. Breed, Cornell University, Geneva, New York, Prof. E. G. D. Murraj^
University of Western Ontario, Canada, and Dr. Nathan R. Smith, Senior Bacteriologist, Retired, Plant Industry Station, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Maryland, have prepared the general sections for Family Bacieroidaceae, June, 1955. Other contribu- tors as noted have prepared the sections covering special groups within this family.
