Value of Pigmentation in Classifying Actinomycetes : A Preliminary Note
Abstract
Receive: RSS Feeds, eTOCs, free email alerts (when new articles cite this article), more» Information about commercial reprint orders: http://jb.asm.org/site/misc/reprints.xhtml To subscribe to to another ASM Journal go to: http://journals.asm.org/site/subscriptions/ New York State Agricultural Eximent Station, Geneva, New York Received for publication April 9, 1941 HISTORICAL The genus Actinomyces is generally regarded as lying between the true bacteria and higher fungi, and contains a few parasitic species but many saprophytic forms. The latter occur mostly in the soil and many of them produce striking pigments. It is quite natural that efforts have been made to utilize these pigments in the identification of species; but the present unsatisfactory nature of the classification of this group suggests thatstriking though these pigments are-they have not proved of great diagnostic value. The first attempt to use pigmentation in classifying the organisms resulted in the recognition of two groups which were at that time considered species and were named by Gasini Actinomyces albus and A. chromogenus respectively. The former was supposed to produce no pigmentation and the latter to cause a browning of the medium in which it was grown. The early work on which this classification was based was done with the