The thiosulphate: cyanide sulphurtransferase (rhodanese) test of Vandenbergh, Bawdon and Berk (1979) has been simplified and 2469 strains from a wide variety of sources representing different biochemical, serological or phage-pattern entities were tested. The percentages of rhodanese-producing strains were: Escherichia coli 98%, Shigella flexneri serovars 1–5%, X and Y 0%, other shigellae 73–100%, Yersinia spp. 0%, Salmonella subgenera I–IV 0%, Citrobacter freundi 16%, Klebsiella 37%, Enterobacter 4%, Hafnia alvei 61%, Proteus spp. 0%, Pseudomonas spp. 98–100%. Rhodanese production by S. flexneri serovar 6 supports the view that this group of bacteria should be removed from S. flexneri and placed in another species of Shigella.
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