SPECIES DIFFERENTIATION OF ORAL LACTOBACILLI FROM MAN INCLUDING DESCRIPTIONS OF LACTOBACILLUS SALIVARIUS NOV SPEC AND LACTOBACILLUS CELLOBIOSUS NOV SPEC

Abstract

500 oral lactobacilli were isolated from 130 children. The concept, that the oral lactobacilli are a single sp., L. acidophilus, is not substantiated by the evidence. At least 2 spp. were present simultaneously in 60% and 3 spp. in 23% of the samples. The % of the isolates and of the samples in which they appeared were, respectively L. casei, 39.2 and 59.2; L. acidophilus, 11 and 21.5; L. salivarius, 2.2 and 6.2; L. plantarum, 2 and 2.3; L. arabinosus, and 3.1; L. fermenti, 308 and 45.4; L. buchneri, 5 and 10; L. brevis, 6.2 and 16.9; L. cellobiosus, 1.2 and 1.5; and unidentifiable strains, 1.2 and 3. The characteristics of these spp. are descr. and their ecological relationships are discussed. The above known spp. are identical with organisms previously found in a wide variety of fermenting materials in nature. New and more extensive tests, including nutritional requirements, have been applied in this study. The spp. have been conceived by means of a correlation of characteristics in which adaptive fermentations are considered. Repeated tests on fermentative and other characteristics in nutritionally adequate media demonstrate that variations of individual strains are insignificant.