IDENTIFICATION OF SPECIES OF ACTINOMYCES

Georg, Lucille K. (Communicable Disease Center, Atlanta, Ga.), Gordon W. Robertstad, and Sherry A. Brinkman. Identification of species of Actinomyces. J. Bacteriol. 88:477-490. 1964.-Four unusual isolates of Actinomyces species were compared with six control strains of well-identified Actinomyces species. Their oxygen requirements and their morphological and biochemical characteristics were determined. Final identifications were confirmed by cell-wall analyses for amino acid and carbohydrate composition and by agar-gel techniques. Two strains, A-13-R and A-13-S, isolated from the same cow head were shown to represent rough and smooth variants of A. bovis. The strains were not only morphologically distinct, but had different biochemical reactions and antigenic makeup. The two other strains, X407 and X573, isolated from human pleural fluid and a lung abscess, respectively, were shown to represent a new Actinomyces species.