OLD AND NEW CELLULOSE-PRODUCINGACETOBACTER SPECIES

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Abstract
A recent comparative study of many Acetobacter strains from vinegar, applejuice, and cider has revealed the fairly common occurrence of strains (some constituting “new” species) which produce buttery or viscid growths giving the “cellu lose reaction” with iodine and sulphuric acid. An examination of other strains and mutants yielding tough, thin to thick, A. xylinum-like pellicles showed that some did not always give a positive cellulose reaction. Recent claims that certain N.C.I.B. cultures of A. xylinum, A. xylinoides, and A. acetigenum are motile, and give rise to celluloseless, putrefactive, proteolytic, peptonizing, polar-flagellated, Pseudomonos-like mutants cannot be confirmed. No strain of A. xylinum ever examined by the writers has shown motility, but one motile celluloseless mutant has been obtained from a cider A. xylinum strain; this mutant corresponded to A. mesoxydans, and the flagella were peritrichous, not polar, further supporting Leifson's findings.