DESCRIPTION OF A STARCH-FERMENTING STRAIN OF MORAXELLA

A strain of diplobacillus,isolated from a clinical specimen,was reported in the present paper. This organism,which was isolated from a spinal fluid resembled Moraxella morphologically and possessed several common characteristics,such as oxidase positive,penicillin sensitivity and nitrate reduction,etc.,but it differed from other Morax- ella in decomposing starch,dextrin,maltose and glucose with the development of an acid reaction, and in failure to liquefy coagulated Loeffler's serum. This organism also showed some special prop- erties such as requirement of blood for growth in primary isolation and slow adaptation to ordinary medium only after a few weeks.Besides,the or- ganism also showed a preference for a humid atmo- sphere for growth as it was very sensitive to drying. Apart from a description of its morphological, cultural,physiological properties and antibiotic sen- sitivity,the importance of attention to isolation techniques also has been discussed.