[Amino acid composition of peptidoglycans isolated from cells of Coryneform bacteria by various methods]. / Aminokislotnyi sostav peptidoglikanov, vydelennykh razlichnymi metodami iz kletok korinepodobnykh bakterii.

A comparative study has revealed the identity of the amino acid composition of the peptide part of peptidoglycans obtained from the intact cells (the first method) and of the amino acid composition of peptidoglycans isolated from cell walls (the second method). This evidences for the possibility of using the first method when determining types of peptidoglycans for diagnosis of the coryneform bacteria genera.

[Free mycolic acids of the cells of coryneform and Nocardia-like bacteria]. / Svobodnye mikolovye kisloty kletok nekootorykh korinepodobnykh i nokardiopodobnykh bakterii.

The composition of free mycolic acids was studied in the cells of Brevibacterium ammoniagenes ATCC 6871, B. flavum 22, B. stationis ATCC 14403, Corynebacterium divaricatum ATCC 14020 and Rhodococcus maris IMV 195. The acids are a mixture of saturated and unsaturated compounds with the total number of carbon atoms from 32 to 36 and the number of C atoms in the alpha-chain from 10 to 15.

[Taxonomic position of the lysine producer Brevibacterium flavum]. / O sistematicheskom polozhenii produtsenta lizina Brevibacterium flavum.

Brevibacterium flavum 22 and 22L producing lysine and glutamic acid should be reclassified as Corynebacterium glutamicum on the basis of their chemotaxonomic characteristics: the IV type of the cell wall, corynomycolic acids C32--C34, 57.8% of GC in DNA.

[Development cycles of coryneform and Nocardia-like bacteria]. / Tsikly razvitiia nekotorykh korinepodobnykh i nokardiopodobnykh bakterii.

The growth cycles and the types of cell separation were studied in a microchamber with the collection strains of Brevibacterium ammoniagenes ATTC 6871, B. helvolum ATCC 19239, B. linens CCM 47 and ATCC 9174, B. maris VKM B-464 and B. stationis ATCC 14403, as well as with the strains of the genus Rhodococcus isolated from soils, viz. R. maris sp. nov. IMB 283 and R. luteus sp. nov. IMB 385. According to the increasing complexity of cellular morphological transformation in the life cycle, the organisms may be arranged in a series: R. maris -- B. ammoniagenes -- B. stationis -- B. linens -- B. helvolum -- R. luteus. The first three organisms are characterized by the snapping type of separation of short rod-like daughter cells. The cells of B. linens separate by both the snapping and bending types. The coccoid cells of B. helvolum ATCC 19239 produce many buds which are transformed into rod-like cells in the course of growth. In the log phase of growth, both true and false branching of the cells is observed; the latter is the result of a peculiar growth of the ends in the separated cells of B. helvolum. The cells of R. luteus form a rudimentary, rapidly fragmenting mycelium whose rod-like elements divide then by binary fission; the daughter cells separate the bending and snapping types.

[Nocardia asteroides (Eppinger) Blanchard in the soils of the Ukrainian SSR]. / Nocardia asteroides (Eppinger) Blanchard v pochvakh Ukrainskoi SSR.

The distribution of Nocardia asteroides (Eppinger) Blanchard, the main causative agent of nocardiosis in humans and animals, in the soils of the Ukrainian SSR was studied. This species was found to inhabit cultivated soils in various soil-climatic zones of the Ukrainian SSR. The isolated strains proved to be heterogeneous in their properties. N. asteroides fell into 2 groups: acetamidase-negative (A) and acetamidase-positive (B). Newly isolated N. asteroides belonging to the acetamidase-positive group were shown to be always pathogenic, whereas the organisms of the acetamidase-negative group could be pathogenic and non-pathogenic in white mice.

Fine structure of vegetative mycelium and spores of Nocardia spp.

The fine structure of a fragmenting and sporulating mycelium of cultures of actinomycetes possessing biochemical properties characteristic of the genus Nocardia--a cell wall of type IV and lipid LCN a--was studied. It was found that fragmenting hyphae are similar in structure to the vegetative hyphae of known actinomycetes. Sporulation takes place through the simultaneous division of a sporulating hypha by numerous septa. Spores differ from vegetative cells in the presence of a thickened electron-dense cell wall, dense internal contents, and the presence of vacuoles.

[Chemotaxonomic markers of several coryneform bacteria and the "Rhodochrous" group]. / Khemotaksonomicheskie priznaki nekotorykh korinepodobnykh bakterii i gruppy "Rhodochrous".

Chemotaxonomic characters (the monosaccharide composition and diaminopimelic acid (DAP) of cell hydrolysates, the type of lipid LCN-A) were studied with bacteria of the "rhodochrous" complex and the Arthrobacter genus isolated from natural substrates as well as with collection strains of the genera Arthrobacter, Brevibacterium and Corynebacterium. If arabinose, galactose and meso-DAP were present in cell hydrolysates of these bacteria, they always contained lipid LCN-A. Bacteria of the "rhodochrous" complex can be differentiated from Corynebacterium sensu stricto by location of lipid LCN-A spots on chromatograms, and from the genera Brevibacterium (B. linens) and Arthrobacter, by the presence of arabinose, meso-DAP and lipid LCN-A in the cells. The representatives of two latter genera do not contain arabinose and lipid LCN-A in their cells.

[Microorganisms of the genus Nocardia and the "rhodochrous" group in the soils of the Ukrainian SSR]. / Mikroorganizmy roda Nocardia i gruppy "rhodochrous" v pochvakh Ukrainskoi SSR.

Nocardioform bacteria characterized by the IV type of the cell wall and by lipid LCN-A are widely distributed in various soils of the Ukrainian SSR. The acetamidase-negative forms of Nocardia asteroides were found in 24.4% of soil samples, and the acetamidase-positive forms of this organism, in 4% of soil samples. The "rhodochrous" group was most often represented by the species N. erythropolis and N. rubropertincta, and less often, by Nocardia (Rhodococcus) rhodochrous, N. opaca and N. flava. The greatest amount of different species was detected in chernozem and dark chestnut soils of the waste zone. Chernozem soils impregnated with petroleum were particularly abundant in N. asteroides, N. rubropertincta, N. corallina and N. erythropolis. The best medium for isolation of most species was the Münz medium containing n-alkanes.

[Nucleotide makeup of the DNA of fast-growing mycobacteria and related microorganisms]. / Nukleotidnyi sostav DNK bystrorastushchikh mikobakterii i rodstvennykh mikroorganizmov.

The melting points of DNA were used to determine the nucleotide composition of DNA from the following microorganisms with a high growth rate: Mycobacterium phlei, M. smegmatis, M. fortuitum, Nocardia asteroides, the organism of the "rhodochrous"--N. opaca group, and organisms related to strain "Mycobacterium" rhodochrous ATCC 13808. M. fortuitum had a higher mol% G+C (67.5--69.5) than M. phlei (66.9--67.5) and M. smegnatis (64.4--68.1); the strains of M. smegmatis were characterized by the most heterogeneous nucleotide composition of DNA. The organisms of the "rhodochrous" complex (mol% G+C=69.5--72.2) were closer to N. asteroides (mol% G+C=72.5--73.5) than to the mycobacteria with a high growth rate.

[Chemotaxonomic characteristics of bacteria belonging to the genus Nocardia isolated from Ukrainian SSR soils]. / Khemotaksonomicheskie priznaki bakterii roda Nocardia, izolirovannykh iz pochv USSR

From soils of the Ukrainian SSR bearing oil and without it, 241 strains of Nocardia were isolated on mineral media containing n-alkanes C12-C22. The strains were divided into two groups: actinoid (N. asteroides, N. flavescens) and bacterium-like (N. rubropertincta, N. flava, N. ucrainica, N. salmonicolor, N. rubra, N. erythropolis, Nocardia ssp). Chemotaxonomic characteristics (the presence in the cells of galactose, arabinose, mesodiaminopimelic acid, lipid LCN-A) were used to differentiate Nocardia from other genera of actinomycetes and coryneforms and to confirm the taxonomy of museum strains. The majority of the Nocardia cultures belongs to the groups "asteroides" and "rhodochrous" according to location of spots of lipid LCN-A on chromatograms. The strains of N. asteroides and complex "M." rhodochrous may belong to both groups. A small number of strains belongs to the group which is represented by N. calcarea 41 (NCIB 8863).