Rapid identification of Actinomycetaceae and related bacteria.

Identification of new isolates belonging to the family Actinomycetaceae requires extensive numbers of biochemical tests, supplemented with gas-liquid chromatography determination of fermentation end products and, often, analysis of cell wall composition. This paper describes the results of the testing of 162 strains of Actinomycetaceae and related taxa for 20 different enzymatic activities including phosphatases, esterases, aminopeptidases, and glycosidases. The results of all tests were read after 4 h of incubation. The results obtained in the study provide significant new information on the biochemical properties of these groups of bacteria. An identification scheme based upon 13 selected tests, which allow the identification of these groups of bacteria within 4 h, is proposed.