Micrococcus anaerobius Hall, in Manual, 6th ed., 1948, 247). an.a.e.ro'bi.us. Gr. pref. an not; Gr. noun aer air; Gr. noun bius life; M.L. adj. anaerobius not living in air. De.scription taken from Prevot (Ann. Sci. Nat., Ser. Bot. et ZooL, 15, 1933, 209), Foubert (Thesis, Univ. of Washington, 1947) and Douglas (Jour. Bact., 62, 1951, 517). Spheres, 0.5 to 0.6 micron in diameter, occurring singly, in pairs, tetrads and masses. Non-motile. Not encapsulated. Gram-positive. Gelatin: No liquefaction. Agar colonies: 0.5 to 1.0 mm in diameter, circular, smooth, entire, low convex, opaque, grayish, opalescent, butyrous. Growth in fluid medium: In peptone yeast extract broth, growth moderate, cloudy to granular; no visible gas production. Growth not enhanced by glucose. Litmus milk: Reduced. Indole not produced. Hj^drogen sulfide is produced. Cell suspensions and growing cultures decompose glycine to CO2 , NH3 and acetic acid. Other amino acids are not fermented. Purines, lactate and malate not attacked. Sugars attacked slowly or not at all. Nitrites not produced from nitrates. Egg albumen, beef serum and casein not attacked. Coagulase-negative. Catalase-positive. Anaerobic. Optimum temperature, 37° C. Growth between 25° and 37° C. Optimum pH, 7.0; pH range, between 6.0 and 8.0. Non-hemolytic. Distinctive characters: No visible gas produced; sugars utilized slowly or not at all; glycine fermented to CO 2 , NH3 and acetic acid; failure to liquefy gelatin and uniform cell size distinguish this species from Pepiococcus variabilis. Source: Isolated by Jungano from in- flamed appendices and from a case of cysti- tis; also from an infected tonsil (Prevot). Habitat: From human sources so far as known. FAMILY VIII. NEISSERIACEAE PREVOT, 1933. (Ann. Sci. Nat., S6t. Bot., 15, 1933, 119.) Neis.se. ri.a'ce.ae. M.L. fem.n. Neisseria type genus of the family; -aceae ending to de- note a family; M.L. fem.pl.n. Neisseriaceae the Neisseria family. Spherical cells occurring in pairs or in masses. Giant cells common in young cultures. Non-motile. Gram-negative. Pigment may or may not be produced. Some species grow poorly immediately after isolation without mammalian body fluids. Aerobic, facultatively anaerobic and anaerobic. Optimum temperature, 37°C. All known species are parasitic. Key to the genera of famihj Neisseriaceae. I. Cells, approximately 1.0 micron in diameter, occur in pairs with the adjacent sides usually flattened. Aerobic or facultatively anaerobic. Genus I. Neisseria, p. 480. II. Cells, usually less than 0.5 micron in diameter, occur in pairs and masses. Anaero- bic. Genus II. Veillonella, p. 485. Genus I. Neisseria Trevisan, 1885* (Trevisan, Atti della Accademia Fisio-Medico-Statistica in Milano, Ser. 4, S, 1885, 105; Gonococcus Lindau, in Just's Bot. Jahresber., I Abt., Orig., 26, 1898, 100.)
- Revised by Dr. Sara E. Branham, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland,
and Dr. Michael J. Pelczar, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, December, 1952. Reviewed by Prof. E. G. D. Murray, McGill University, Montreal, P. Q., Canada.
