Abstract
LATE or non-lactose fermenting bacteria are of wide interest in the clinical field because of their association with gastroenteritis and urinary infections. Because they form colourless or white colonies on coliform differential media, they are usually overlooked during the isolation of coliforms. Clemesha1 was probably the first to recognize the importance of these organisms in India, when he stated that “a class of organisms which ferment glucose but not lactose is not only exceedingly common in water … but the significance of these bacteria is of great importance to the water analyst”. Topley and Wilson2 also felt that “there seems no doubt that they are a more common constituent of normal intestinal flora under tropical than under temperate conditions”. In India these ‘Paracolon’ bacteria are misclassified in the genus Escherichia or Aerobacter despite the fact that lactose fermentation is a fundamental characteristic of the latter organisms. Topley and Wilson2 defined ‘Paracolons’ as those which do not ferment lactose or ferment it slowly and have the ‘IMViC’ reaction ++−−. Stuart et al. 3 suggest the term ‘Paracolon’ for papillæ-forming anaerogenic and slow lactose-fermenting Escherichia-like organisms associated with gastroenteritis. Breed et al. 4 have accorded generic rank to Paracolobactrum, including them as an appendix to the tribe Escherichiae.
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References
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SREENIVASAN, A., VENKATARAMAN, R. Occurrence of Paracolon Bacteria in a Tropical Marine Environment and their Classification. Nature 178, 547 (1956). https://doi.org/10.1038/178547a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/178547a0
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