Abstract
Use of the tyrosine medium in the identification of members of the family Enterobacteriaceae form the basis of this paper. Six hundred and twenty-three strains were tested for their property of tyrosine degradation. Three hundred and seventy-two strains were positive in 24 h and an additional eight strains were positive in 48 to 72 h. These positive strains consisted of all 344 strains of the Proteus-Providencia group, all 25 strains of Citrobacter diversus, and three strains of atypical C. freundii. Our findings suggest that tyrosine degradation is a useful property for separating out the Proteus-Providencia group and in specific identification of C. diversus.