Studies on a collection of strains of the genus Flavobacterium. 1. Biochemical studies.

The genus Flavobacterium has undergone a number of changes during the last years resulting in a revised description of the genus in which restriction of Flavobacterium to certain low G + C content species is proposed. The purpose of the present study has been to see how a collection of 184 clinical and environmental strains of Flavobacterium-like organisms isolated in Denmark would fit into this latest revision. It was found that most of the different biochemical patterns represented gradually merged into each other, with certain patterns, however, occurring more frequently than others and corresponding to the already described taxa: F. meningosepticum, Flavobacterium group IIb, F. breve, F. odoratum, F. multivorum and F. spiritivorum. The lately proposed subdivision of the genus will need either revision or extension or both to cope satisfactorily with the situation revealed in this study.