Bacteroides melaninogenicus subsp. macacae, a New Subspecies from Monkey Periodontopathic Indigenous Microflora

Abstract

The name B. melaninogenicus ssp. macacae is proposed for a subspecies to accommodate strains of gram-negative, anaerobic, catalase-producing rods which produce black colonies on blood agar plates. The organisms weakly ferment galactose, glucose, lactose and mannose and exhibit no fermentation of 24 other carbohydrates. The metabolic acid end products formed in peptone-yeast extract-glucose broth cultures include acetic, propionic, isobutyric, butyric, isovaleric and succinic acids. The organisms utilize pyruvate, digest gelatin and produce indole and H2S. B. melaninogenicus ssp. macacae appears to be serologically distinct from B. asaccharolyticus, B. melaninogenicus ssp. levii, B. melaninogenicus ssp. intermedius and B. melaninogenicus ssp. melaninogenicus. The type strain of this new subspecies is ATCC 33141.