Detection, identification, and comparison of Capnocytophaga, Bacteroides ochraceus, and DF-1

Working independently, three laboratories had recognized considerable similarity among certain strains of dysgonic, fermentative, capnophilic, surface translocating, gram-negative bacilli referred to as Capnocytophaga, Bacteroides ochraceus, and Center for Disease Control biogroup DF-1. To determine the relationship among these groups, 21 strains were exchanged and independently characterized by the three laboratories. Additionally, a fourth laboratory examined the deoxyribonucleic acid homologies of the same strains. Using methods common to dental microbiology, eight of the strains had been isolated from the gingival sulcus and periodontal lesions and identified as Capnocytophaga. Three strains isolated from blood and transtracheal aspirate had been characterized by conventional anaerobic methods and recorded as B. ochraceus. Ten strains isolated from sputum, blood, throat, spinal fluid, and tracheal aspirate had been identified as DF-1 with the methods of E. O. King and a buffered single-substrate technique. All strains were similar in respect to colonial and microscopic morphology, surface translocation, biochemical features, gas-liquid chromatograms of metabolic end products, and deoxyribonucleic acid composition. We conclude that these biogroups should be termed Capnocytophaga species.