[Microcolony morphology as a criterion in bacterial diagnosis. The differentiation of Pneumococcus from...

The authors have developed a method permitting the microscopic study of the morphology of bacteria and their relative position in microcolonies. Thus, the use of this method has made it possible to distinguish Streptococcus pneumoniae from other bacteria by the morphology of their microcolonies. In the study of 75 streptococcal strains, all strains yielding positive results in two or three tests, similarly to all strains pathogenic for mice, formed microcolonies with granular (pneumococcal) morphology, while all strains yielding negative results have been found to form microcolonies with catenulate ("nonpneumococcal") morphology. The authors suggest that the morphology of microcolonies is a more reliable criterion for the identification of S. pneumoniae than other tests used separately.