Bacteroides gracilis is a gram-negative anaerobic bacillus which requires formate and fumarate for growth; it has been implicated in periodontal disease and serious infections of the head and neck. In this study, Bacteroides ureolyticus (NTU) medium was tested for its ability to allow the growth of B. gracilis and other formate-fumarate requiring gram-negative anaerobes and to enable the recovery of these organisms from clinical specimens. All reference strains grew on NTU medium with the exception of Wolinella recta and formate-fumarate requiring organisms were isolated from 18 of 20 samples of subgingival dental plaque from patients with chronic periodontitis. B. gracilis was the commonest species isolated (14 of the 29 isolates); B. ureolyticus was not found.
ShahHN, CollinsMD. Proposal to restrict the genus Bacteroides (Castellani and Chalmers) to Bacteroides fragilis and closely related species. Int J Syst Bacteriol1989; 39:85–87
EleyA, ClarryT, BennettKW. Selective and differential medium for isolation of Bacteroides ureolyticus from clinical specimens. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis1989; 8:83–85
BowdenGH, HardieJM. Anaerobic organisms from the human mouth. ShaptonDA, BoardRG. edsIsolation of anaerobes (The Society for Applied Bacteriology Technical Series No. 5) London: Academic Press; 1971177–205
JackmanPJH. Microbial systematics based on electrophoretic whole-cell protein patterns. ColwellR, GrigorovaR. edsCurrent methods for the identification and classification of micro-organisms (Methods in Microbiology vol. 19) London: Academic Press; 1987209–225
TannerACR, HafferC, BratthallGT, ViscontiRA, SocranskySS. A study of the bacteria associated with advancing periodontitis in man. J Clin Periodontal1979; 6:278–307
WadeWG, MoranJ, MorganJR, NewcombeR, AddyM. The effects of antimicrobial acrylic strips on the subgingival microflora in chronic periodontitis. J Clin Periodontal in press
DuerdenBI, EleyA, GoodwinL, MageeJT, HindmarchJM, BennettKW. A comparison of Bacteroides ureolyticus isolates from different clinical sources. J Med Microbiol1989; 29:63–73