Staphylococcus aureus strains of phage group II and their possible relation to animal staphylococci. 2. Biochemical properties.

The investigations carried out show that the two main serologic types of phage group II are biochemically different. Contrary to strains of serologic 263-2, staphylococci belonging to type i1-2 do not produce haemoglobinase, are positive in cristal-violet test, produce mostly beta haemolysin, disclose higher lipolytic activity and as a rule possess dark orange pigment. In the first part of this work it was shown, that the serologic types under discussion differ also in respect of the presence of polysaccharide 263, epidemiology, phage typing and resistance to antibiotics. The data mentioned above seem to constitute sufficient base for the subdivision of phage group II into two subunits. It should be stressed that some properties of staphylococci belonging to type i1-2 seem to indicate their possible relation to animal strains of biotype B.