Monohydroxy and Dihydroxy Fatty Acid Composition of Legionella Species

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Abstract
The name Providencia heimbachae sp. nov. is proposed for a group of organisms that were isolated from the feces of penguins in the Federal Republic of Germany and from a cow in the United States. P. heimbachae strains are gram-negative, oxidase-negative, fermentative, rod-shaped organisms that grow on MacConkey agar, as well as other media that are selective for members of the Enterobacteriaceae. The 13 P. heimbachae isolates which we studied gave negative results for the following tests: indole production, Voges-Proskauer, Simmons citrate, H2S production on triple sugar iron and Kligler agars, urease, lysine decarboxylase, arginine dihydrolase, gelatinase, growth in the presence of KCN, malonate, acid production from L-arabinose, cellobiose, dulcitol, erythritol, lactose, melezitose, melibiose, a-methylglucoside, raffinose, salicin, D-sorbitol, L-sorbose, starch, D-tagatose, trehalose, D-turanose, and D-xylose (15% positive after 7 days), esculin hydrolysis, acetate, lipase, deoxyribonuclease, and o-nitrophenyl-β-D-galactopyranoside. The strains were positive for the following tests: catalase, nitrate reductase, methy1 red, phenylalanine deaminase, acid production from D-glucose, adonitol, D-arabitol, D-fructose, D-galactose, D-mannose, and L-rhamnose, and tyrosine clearing. Acid production from glycerol, myo-inositol, maltose, and D-mannitol was delayed; gas was produced from D-glucose, D-galactose, and D-mannose in small amounts or not at all (54% positive after 7 days). Motility at 36°C was variable (46% positive after 2 days; 85% positive after 7 days). Deoxyribonucleic acids from 12 other strains of P. heimbachae were highly related (91 to 100% related in reactions assayed on hydroxyapatite at 60 and 75°C) to 32P-labeled deoxyribonucleic acid from the proposed type strain (strain ATCC 35613). Labeled deoxyribonucleic acid from this type strain was 22 to 45% related at 60°C and 4 to 31% related at 75°C to deoxyribonucleic acids from four other Providencia species. The levels of relatedness of P. heimbachae to Proteus species ranged from 10 to 13% in 60°C reactions. P. heimbachae could be differentiated from the other Providencia species by the following characteristics: negative tests for Simmons citrate, urease, indole production, and acid production from trehalose and positive tests for acid production from adonitol, D-arabitol, D-galactose, and L-rhamnose. All of the P. heimbachae strains which we studied were resistant to tetracycline, and most strains were resistant to cephalothin.