Isolation, identification, and several characteristics of luminous bacteria.

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Abstract
In order to apply bioluminescence of luminous bacteria to industrial use, isolation of luminous bacteria from various sources was carried out on the basis of strong light intensity, and 18 strains were obtained. Eleven of these strains were identified as Photobacterium phosphoreum and 7 as Vibrio fischeri. Maximum light intensities of these isolates were quite different among strains tested and 2 stock cultures of luminous bacteria supplied by the American Type Culture Collection had a very poor bioluminescence compared to the new isolates. Bioluminescent emission spectra from the 2 isolated strains were fairly different from each other, indicating the possibility of obtaining luminous bacteria which could emit light of different colors. While cultivation of some luminous bacteria was repeated several times in a liquid medium, decrease of light intensity was observed. By spreading the culture broth on an agar plate medium, 3 kinds of colonies were observed. They were quite different in the appearance of colonies and maximum light intensity. The occurrence of dim mutants in liquid cultures is disadvantageous for maintaining the light intensity constant, and a strain which could be as stable as possible should be used for the industrial purpose.