A Non-Life Cycle Explanation of the Diphtheroid Streptococcus from Endocarditis

Abstract

A new isolation of an a-hemolytic streptococcus from a case of sub-acute endocarditis which formed diphtheroid-like cells on solid media is reported. Evidence is presented indicating that the organism is a true streptococcus which assumes a diphtheroid appearance only under the adverse conditions of aerobic culture. The normal streptococcus can be stained to show transverse bands of heavily stained protoplasm which enhance the diphtheroid appearance when division, but not cell growth, is inhibited and the cells assume other than the coccus shape. The life cycle postulated by several earlier investigators for the diphtheroid streptococcus from endocarditis is rejected.