Surface-sterilized ovules and seeds of 27 species of plants were cultured in the water of syneresis of a nutrient medium low in agar content. Bacteria were obtained from 30% of the ovules, 15% of the seeds of herbaceous plants, 16% of the seeds of woody plants, 5.4% of the overwintered noncereal seeds, and 13.5% of overwintered cereal seeds. In no instance did every ovule or seed of a plant species contain bacteria. No bacteria were obtained from the hard, waxy seeds of mimosa or yellowwood. They were not obtained from ovules with unbroken coats or from seeds with coats that were not ruptured during the swelling of the seed. Only one species of bacteria was recovered in 93% of the instances in which bacteria were obtained. Bacteria were obtained from seeds that were embedded in the acidic parenchyma of the lemon or surrounded by the ihickened flesh of the cucurbits. The bacteria were distributed among 19 genera and 46 species. The species isolated in greatest numbers were Bacillus megaterium, B. cereus, Erwinia herbicola, Flavobacterium devorans, and Pseudomonas fluorescens. Bacteria recovered less frequently were in the genera Achromobacter, Acinetobacter, Alcaligenes, Brevibacterium, Corynebacterium, Cytophaga, Leuconostoc, Micrococcus, Nocardia, Proteus, Streptococcus, Streptomyces, and Xanthomonas. Members of 11 genera and 15 species of bacteria were isolated once.
Enterococci were obtained from 213 of 403 insects cultured during a 14-month period, in numbers from 103 to 3 x 107/g of insect. Insects were taken only from nonurban, wild, and cultivated fields and woods. In species of insects carrying them, enterococci were not always present in every individual cultured, and often more than one species of enterococcus occurred within a species. Enterococci were obtained from certain insects taken in the field during the dormant season, suggesting their role as overwintering agents. They were generally present in species feeding on nectar, succulent plant parts, and on and ir forest litter, but not from insects feeding on less succulent leaves and stems. Streptococcus faecalis was recovered from 32%, Streptococcus faecium from 22.4%, and Streptococcus faecium var. casseliflavus from 43.5% of members of the 37 taxa of insects. S. faecalis and S. faecium var. casseliflavus exhibit a high percent of conformity to the properties published for them. The heterogeneity in properties of S. faecium is similar to that found for the species taken from plants. Many fail to grow in broth at 45 C or in broth containing 6.5% NaCl; 50% of the cultures ferment both melezitose and melibiose, and a few ferment neither sugar. Tle remainder ferment melibiose only. Failure to reduce methylene blue in milk
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) homalogy was used to examine genetic relatedness among 25 yellow-pigmented strains of group D streptococci and to clarify the possible genetic relatedness of these strains to Streptococcus faecium and Streptococcus faecalis. In all cases, the DNA of the yellow-pigmented strains hybridized with the DNA of S. faecium and S. faecalis at a level of less than 25%. Based on median thermal dissociation temperatures (Tm's) and hybridization tests, the yellow-pigmented strains were divided into two groups (I and 11). DNAs of strains in group I had relatively low Tm's and did not exhibit significant homology with DNA of the herein designated type strain (ATCC 25788) of S. faecium subsp. casseliflavus. The DNAs of group I1 strains, on the other hand, exhibited high Tm'S and had a high degree of homology with the DNA of the type strain of the above-mentioned subspecies. Three physiological traits were found to be peculiar to group I1 organisms: ability to grow in the presence of 6.5% sodium chloride, inability to ferment sorbitol, and inability to decarboxylate tyrosine. It is proposed that the group I1 strains constitute a separate and distinct species. Because the strains presently placed in this species include the type strain of S. faecium subsp. casseliflavus Mundt and Graham, the name of this species, according to the rules of the Bacteriological Code, is Streptococcus casseliflavus (Mundt and Graham) comb. nov.Mundt and Graham (11) proposed the name Streptococcus faecium subsp. casseliflavus for group D yellow-pigmented streptococci which were isolated from plants (11, 12). Taken into consideration for the establishment of this subspecies were its pigmentation, physiology, and ecology, which set this subspecies apart from Streptococcus faecalis and the other subspecies of Streptococcus faecium.
The frequency and levels of population of the spherical lactic acid-producing bacteria were determined on raw and processed yellow summer and zucchini squash, a variety of greens, green beans, okra, southern peas, and butter and lima beans, and on fresh cucumbers and corn flowers. Six taxa occurred consistently: Leuconostoc mesenteroides, yellow-pigmented streptococci, Streptococcus faecium, Aerococcus viridans, and S. faecalis and S. faecalis var. liquefaciens. The same taxa occurred with the same order of frequency on processed, frozen vegetables, but with a marked decrease in the occurrence of S. faecalis var. liquefaciens. S. lactis, S. cremoris, S. equinus, S. bovis, and pediococci were isolated infrequently. No other member of the viridans group of the streptococci and no member of the pyogenic group was isolated.Approximately 88 % of the cultures were identified. Total counts of the lactic-acidproducing bacteria rarely exceeded 105 per gram of sample, and there was a reduction by 90 % during the second year of study, probably because of drought. Only one bacterial species was found on 40% of the raw and 34% ofthe processed vegetable samples. Two or more species or taxa were present on the remainder of 153 raw and 56 processed vegetable samples. A. viridans was present on squash, greens, okra, and
Occurrence of enterococci in animals in a wild environment. Appl. Microbiol. 11:136-140. 1963.-Enterococci were obtained from the feces of 71 % of 216 mammals, 86 % of 70 reptiles, and 32 % of 22 birds sampled in a truly wild environment, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Patterns of food dependence and also of species dependence were observed. Among the lower classes of the primarily herbivorous mammals, the enterococci occurred sporadically; however, of the six species of Sciuridae, the gray squirrel, and of four species of Cricetidae, the redbacked mouse, the enterococci appear to be natural hosts. The enterococci were not obtained from most specimens of moles, shrews, or rabbits but they were obtained from most specimens of bats and from the carnivorous mammals, such as fox, bear, raccoon, skunk, and boar. Streptococcus faecalis was obtained from 12 reptiles, and a caseolytic variant was obtained from 37 specimens of the reptiles. The strongly reducing, tellurite-tolerant species, S. faecalis, its caseolytic variant, and S. faecalis var. zymogenes were isolated from 127 or 41 % of 308 specimens cultured. S. faecium was recovered from 87 or 28 % of the animals, chiefly from the wild boar (60 of 64 trials) and the black bear. S. zymnogenes was obtained from 1 of 31 bats, 3 of 12 raccoons, and 1 of 3 owls. The occurrence of enterococci in feces of wild animals has not been studied extensively. Winter and Sandholzer (1946) reported counts ranging from 0 in the muskrat to 37 million per g of feces of the raccoon, with only these two animals mentioned. Ostrolenk and Hunter (1946) recovered enterococci, usually in low numbers per gram, from 49 of 51 fecal specimens of animals, including human, cat, mouse, guinea pig, rabbit, dog, rat, chicken, fly, and monkey. Haenel and Mueller-Buethow (1957) obtained enterococci from man, rat, chicken, and dog but not from rabbit, guinea pig, or horse. The human harbors Streptococcus faecalis and S. faecium (Mieth, 1961), and the proteolytic variant (herein termed S. faecalis var. liquefaciens) occurs primarily in the human during certain types of pathological manifestations (Guthof, 1957). S. bovis and S. faecium occur dominantly in cattle (Mieth, 1962a) and in hogs
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