Morphological, Cultural, Biochemical, and Serological Comparison of Japanese Strains of Vibrio parahemolyticus with Related Cultures Isolated in the United States

Morphological, cultural, biochemical, and serological characteristics of 79 strains of Vibrio parahemolyticus isolated from patients suffering from gastroenteric disease in Japan were compared with 17 suspected V. parahemolyticus cultures isolated from wound infections and 14 nonpathogenic vibrios isolated from an estuarine environment in the United States. These groups were differentiated on the basis of several key reactions which included: the range of growth temperature and salt tolerance; the production of catalase and acetoin; the hydrolysis of starch; the fermentation and utilization as single carbon source of sucrose, cellobiose, and arabinose; and the ability to swarm on 1% agar. The separation of the groups on the basis of cultural and biochemical analyses was confirmed by means of slide agglutinations with specific anti-K antisera. The results of this study strongly suggest that the wound infection isolates are V. parahemolyticus species which are easily distinguished from the nonpathogenic estuarine vibrios.     

Examination of Market Foods for Coliform Organisms

Food specimens (490) in nine categories were examined for total aerobic plate count and numbers and types of coliform organisms, including the enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EEC). The total counts were compared with various suggested standards, and a limit of 100,000/g appeared to be a realistic goal, except for certain food types with a high level of natural flora. Plate counts in VRB were compared to counts obtained by isolation by enrichment in LST Broth, and the latter method produced a higher percentage of isolations. The presence of E. coli was determined by use of EC Medium incubated at 44.5 +/- 0.1 C. Only 40.4% of the positive EC tubes, however, contained E. coli. It appeared that a limit of 10 coliform organisms per g as a suggested standard could be met with several types of foods. Isolation of EEC was obtained only three times, or in 0.6% of the specimens.     

Toxicity of some goldenrods

This study was performed to determine the biological activity in mice of eight species of Solidago (goldenrod) and to determine some of the chemical groups present in these species. Biologically active substances were present in all of the species tested. Tests of six species were positive for alkaloids. All but one of the species contained demonstrable saponins. All of the species contained tannins, whereas six or seven species were positive for flavonoids. Quaternary bases were not found in any of the species tested. A comparison of the biological activity in mice of these species of Solidago, extracts of which were injected intraperitoneally, showed their descending order of activity to be: (1)S. flexicaulis L., (2)S. hispida Muhl., (3)S. juncea Ait., (4)S. serotina Ait., (5)S. canadensis L., (6)S. rugosa Ait., (7)S. uliginosa Nutt., and (8)S. squarrosa Muhl.