IMilk: Acid; coagulated; partially di- gested. Indole production weak, if at all. Hydrogen sulfide irregularly produced. Acid and gas from glucose, fructose, galac- tose, sucrose, maltose, trehalose, melezitose, glycerol, mannitol, inositol, erythritol, adonitol, dextrin and starch. Lactose, raffi- nose, inulin and glucosamine slowly acidi- fied (in 20 to 40 days). No acid or gas from xylose, rhamnose, arabinose, aesculin, amygdalin, salicin, cellobiose, dulcitol, mannitol, sorbitol, methyl glucoside or methyl mannoside. Nitrites not produced from nitrates. Coagulated egg albumen: Not digested awaj' but becomes transparent. Blood agar colonies: 2 to 3 mm in diame- ter, raised, yellowish white, smooth; no hemolysis. Anaerobic. Optimum temperature, 37° C. Non-pathogenic for rabbits or white mice. Linzenmeier (Ann. Inst. Past., 87, 1954, 572) states that serologically Corynebacte- rium avidum is closely related to C. acnes. Comments: Pederson (Jour. Bact., 50, 1945, 478) secured a culture of this species from Eggerth and found that it ferments glucose with the production of higher fatty (mainly butyric) acids and lactic acid; he further states that this species appears to be closely related to Butyribacteriujn rett- geri Barker and Haas. Source: Isolated from feces. Habitat: From the human intestinal tract so far as known. 33. Corynebacteriuni diphtheroides Prevot, 1938. (Bacille diphteroide, Jungano, Compt. rend. Soc. Biol., Paris, 66, 1909, 112; Corynebacteriuni diphteroides (sic) Prevot, Ann. Inst. Past., 60, 1938, 304.) diph.the.ro.i'des. Or. noun diphthera leather, skin; M.L. fem.n. diphtheria diph- theria; Gr. eidus form, shape; M.L. adj. diphtheroides resembling diphtheria. Medium-sized (0.3 to 0.4 by 3.0 to 4.0 microns), straight or curved, club-shaped rods resembling those of Corynebacteriuni diphiheriae and occurring singly, in pairs or in clumps or angularly arranged due to snap- ping division. Non-motile. Gram-positive. Gelatin: No liquefaction. Glucose agar stab: Colonies round; gas is produced. Glucose broth: Turbid with the produc- tion of gas. Milk: Not coagulated. Indole is produced. Acid and gas from glucose. Non-proteolytic. Anaerobic. Optimum temperature, 37° C. Non-pathogenic. Serology: See Linzenmeier (Ann. Inst. Past., 87, 1954, 572). Source: Isolated from the intestine of a white rat. Also found in a case of fibrous osteitis (Beerens). Habitat: Unknown except as stated above. Genus II. Listeria Pirie, 1940.* (Listerella Pirie, Publ. So. African Inst, for Med. Res., 3, 1927, 163; not Listerella Jahn, Ber. d. deutsch. Bot. Ges., 34, 1906, 538; not Listerella Cushman, Contr. Cushman Lab. Foram., Sharon, Mass., 9, 1933, 32; Pirie, Science, 91, 1940, 383; also see Seeliger, Listeriosis. Beitr. z. Hyg. u. Epidemiol., Barth, Leipzig, Heft 8, 1955, 143 pp.) Lis.te'ri.a. M.L. fem.n. Listeria named for Joseph Lister, an English surgeon and bac- teriologist. Small rods. Motile by means of peritrichous flagella. Gram-positive. Grow freely on ordi- nary media. Acid but no gas from glucose and a few additional carbohydrates. Esculin is hydrolyzed. Catalase-positive. Aerobic. Pathogenic parasites. Parasitic in warm-blooded animals. The type species is Listeria monocytogenes (iVIurray et al.) Pirie. Revised by Prof E. G. D Murray, McGill University, Montreal, P.Q., Canada, Jur 1955
