Studies on the Anaerobic Micrococci

Abstract

A comparative study was made of 52 strains of obligately anaerobic micrococci, 36 of which were freshly isolated from the skin, vagina, uterus, tonsils and plasma. The remainder, including all of the available accepted spp., were obtained from other workers. On a morphological basis all organisms were included in one genus, Micrococcus. Using biochemical tests, it was concluded that M. niger, M. activus, M. aerogenes, M. grigoroffi and M. anaerobius are valid spp. The one available strain of M. asaccharolyticus could not be distinguished from M. aerogenes. The descrip-tion of spp. includes: M. lactilyticus new name for Veillonella gazogenes, M. prevotii, n. sp., M. saccharolyticus, n. sp., and M. variabilis, n. sp. A key to the 10 spp. of obligately anaerobic micrococci is given.