VALIDITY OF PROPIONIBACTERIUM ACNES (GILCHRIST) DOUGLAS AND GUNTER COMB. NOV.

Moore, W. E. C. (Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg) and Elizabeth P. Cato. Validity of Propionibacterium acnes (Gilchrist) Douglas and Gunter comb. nov. J. Bacteriol. 85:870-874. 1963.-ATCC strains of Corynebacterium acnes 11827, 6921, and 6922 were tested and consistently found to ferment lactate with the production of propionate, acetate, and succinate under strictly anaerobic conditions. ATCC strains of eight species of Propionibacterium fermented lactate under strictly anaerobic or under deep broth aerobic culture conditions. The ratios of fermentation products of each of the organisms were essentially identical, indicating that C. acnes should properly be classified in the genus Propionibacterium as suggested by Douglas and Gunter. Serological tests demonstrated that this organism shares antigens in common with several of the other species of Propionibacterium.