A taxonomic study of Haemophilus vaginalis Gardner and Dukes was undertaken to determine relationships between this organism and members of other genera. The methods utilized included Adansonian analysis, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-DNA hybridizations, electron microscopy, and biochemical analysis of cell envelopes. By numerical analysis, all 78 clinical isolates and reference strains examined were related to each other at a similarity level exceeding 95%. No subspecies or biovars were observed. DNA-DNA hybridizations showed no genetic relationship between H. vaginalis and members of the genera Haemophilus, Pasteurella, and Streptococcus. Also, no relationship was observed between H. vaginalis and CDC DF-1. In the absence of existing genera with genetic features compatible with H. vaginalis, we propose the new genus Gardnerella for inclusion of organisms presently designated as either H. vaginalis or Corynebacterium vaginale. Gardnerella is defined to include catalase-and oxidasenegative, gram-negative to gram-variable bacteria with laminated cell walls which produce acetic acid as the major end product of fermentation. The type species of Gardnerella is G. vaginalis (Gardner and Dukes) comb. nov. Due to the unusual cell wall of this organism, this new genus is not presently assignable to a family.
Features of 378 clinical isolates of saccharolytic, nonfermentative Gram-negative rods and 20 reference strains were examined. All but four of the clinical strains were assigned to recognized taxa, namely Acinetobacter, Chromobacterium, Flavobacterium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Pseudomonas maltophilia, Pseudomonas multivorans, Pseudomonas putida, Pseudomonas stutzeri, and Xanthomonas.
One hundred and thirty-one strains of nonsaccharolytic and weakly saccharolytic Gram-negative rods recently isolated from clinical specimens were examined with a battery of 74 tests, mostly biochemical. All but five of these strains were thus assigned to established taxa. Alkalinization of amides and organic acids was a particularly useful feature for identifying these bacteria.
Lysis by KOH and hydrolysis of L-alanine-4-nitroanilide were compared with the Gram reaction of aerobic, microaerophilic, and anaerobic bacteria. Both tests correlated well with the Gram reaction with nonfermentative bacilli and Bacillus species, whereas they did not correlate with nonsporulating anaerobes. Only campylobacteria were KOH positive and L-alanine-4-nitroanilide and gram negative.
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