Differentiation of marine luminous bacteria using commercial identification plates.

Differentiation of marine luminous bacteria using Biology GN plate combined with API 20e or the BBL Crystal ID plate inoculated with cell suspensions in artificial seawater was accomplished by comparison to type species using cluster analysis. Inoculum density affected the results from Biolog GN plates, but had less of an effect on the reactions obtained from API 20e strip or BBL Crystal ID plate. In a few cases, combination of the Biolog GN traits along with either the API 20e or Crystal ID traits was necessary to differentiate some marine luminous bacteria.