Rapid identification of cell wall components as a guide to the classification of aerobic coryneform bacteria from human skin.

In a survey of over 1000 isolates of aerobic skin coryneforms from a wide variety of sources, chromatographic methods were used to identify the major cell-wall components in whole-cell hydrolysates. Most of the skin isolates-like members of the genus Corynebacterium--possessed meso-diaminopimelic acid and arabinose. However, substantial numbers of coryneforms apparently resident on the skin did not have this pattern; the sites from which they were isolated suggested that some were derived from the environment whilst others (possessing meso-DAP and galactose but not arabinose as the major wall components) were members of the resident skin flora.