Unusual fermentative, gram-negative bacilli isolated from clinical specimens. I. Characterization of Erwinia strains of the "lathyri-herbicola group".

Five strains of gram-negative, yellow chromogenic bacilli were recovered from clinical specimens which fit the characteristics of the "lathyri-herbicola group" within the genus Erwinia. The strains were facultatively anaerobic, fermentative, anaerogenic bacilli with peritrichous flagella which grew at 37 C, reduced nitrate to nitrite, and failed to produce oxidase, pectinase, arginine dihydrolase, and decarboxylases for lysine and ornithine. Aggregations of bacteria (symplasmata) were observed in the syneresis water of slant cultures, and analogous granular aggregates and biconvex, spindle-shaped bodies developed in colonies on plate cultures. Awareness of these characteristics should result in more frequent identification of Erwinia species from human sources.