Identification of Flavobacterium strains by gas liquid chromatographic analysis of volatile fatty acids produced in culture.

The classification previously established for 74 Flavobacterium strains by gas liquid chromatographic (GLC) analysis of volatile fatty acids (VFA) produced in culture allowed the recovery of 9 groups (J. gen. Microbiol., 1986, 132, 2723-2732). Since graphic representation of the strains based on the first 3 factors obtained by principal component analysis (PCA) clearly separated these groups, we tried to identify 80 new strains by comparing their positions with those of the 9 groups, on the basis of both hierarchical classification and PCA methods. Of the 153 strains studied, only 12 were not allocated to a group corresponding to their original biochemical identification. Thus, on the whole, this characterization method by GLC analysis seemed satisfactory, although it could not be established whether the method was adequate for routine identification, or would serve merely as a complement.