Fifteen strains of an anaerobic bacterium having a subpolar tuft of flagella twisted together to function as one large structure were isolated from cecal contents of ten laboratory mice, three wild mice, and a wild rat. The strains were weakly gram positive and saccharolytic, and produced butyric acid from fermented carbohydrates. Spores could not be demonstrated in any strain. The isolates formed a group that did not fit any described species of anaerobic bacterium. The name Eubacterium plexicaudatum is proposed for this organism. The type strain VPI 7582 (=ATCC 27514) was obtained from a laboratory mouse.
MarmurJ.,
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