Evaluation of media for differentiating nonfermenting gram-negative bacteria of medical significance.

An evaluation was made of media and tests used for differentiating nonfermenting gram-negative bacteria encountered in medical bacteriology in order to determine those diagnostic procedures most useful in identifying these bacteria. The organisms examined included Alcaligenes faecalis, A. odorans var. viridans, Moraxella duplex (Mima polymorpha var. oxidans), Acinetobacter anitratum (Herellea vaginicola), A. lwoffi (Mima polymorpha), Pseudomonas fluorescens, P. putida, P. maltophilia, P. pseudomallei, P. stutzeri, P. alcaligenes, and atypical strains of P. aeruginosa. The media and tests evaluated included Sellers' medium; Hugh and Leifson's OF medium; acid production from 10% lactose infusion agar; gluconate oxidation; starch, aesculin, and Tween 80 hydrolysis; lysine decarboxylase, arginine dihydrolase, deoxyribonuclease, and tyrosinase activity; tolerance to triphenyl tetrazolium chloride, cetrimide, cadmium sulfate, 2.5% and 6.5% sodium chloride, and pH 5.6; utilization of glucose, acetamide, and malonate.