The Genus Serratia
The Genus Serratia
The Genus Serratia
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234 F. Grimont and P.A.D. Grimont CHAPTER 3.3.11<br />
Table 5. Identification of species in the <strong>Serratia</strong> liquefaciens complex. a<br />
Characteristic<br />
S. liquefaciens<br />
Clab<br />
a Symbols as in Table 4.<br />
b <strong>The</strong> type strain of S. proteamaculans (ATCC 19323) corresponds to biotype C1c.<br />
c <strong>The</strong> type strain of S. grimesii (ATCC 14460) corresponds to biotype C1d.<br />
<strong>The</strong> potato-like odor produced by S. odorifera, S. ficaria, and a few strains of S. rubidaea, was identified as a pyrazine<br />
(3-isopropyl-2-methoxy-5-methylpyrazine) (Gallois and Grimont, 1985).<br />
scens, 4 in S. proteamaculans, 2 in S. grimesii, 3<br />
in S. rubidaea, 2 in S. odorifera, and 2 in S. entomophila.<br />
Characteristics of these biotypes are<br />
given in Tables 6–9. Carbon source utilization<br />
tests are major elements in the identification of<br />
these biotypes. Multipoint inoculation devices<br />
(e.g., Denley Multipoint Inoculator, Denley<br />
Instruments, Ltd., Bolney Cross, Bolney, Sussex,<br />
England), are the most useful for biotyping 20 or<br />
more strains at a time. Biotype identification is<br />
faster (1–4 days) when API strips containing carbon<br />
sources are used. Alternatively, filter paper<br />
disks impregnated with each carbon source can<br />
be deposited on an inoculated minimal agar<br />
S. proteamaculans<br />
subsp. proteamaculans<br />
subsp. quinovora<br />
S. grimesii<br />
C1c RQ<br />
b EB RB C1dc ADC<br />
Growth on:<br />
trans-Aconitate − + + − + − +<br />
Adonitol − − (+) − − − −<br />
Benzoate − − (+) v − + −<br />
m-Erythritol − − + − − − −<br />
Gentisate − − − + − − −<br />
D-Malate + − − − v (v) (v)<br />
L-Rhamnose − − − + d − −<br />
m-Tartrate + − − − d − −<br />
Arginine decarboxylase − − − − − + +<br />
Esculine hydrolyzed + + + + − + +<br />
Table 6. Identification of <strong>Serratia</strong> marcescens biotypes. a<br />
Characteristic<br />
a Symbols as in Table 4.<br />
b Growth on D-malate and meso-tartrate is correlated with growth on DL-carnitine (Grimont, unpublished observations).<br />
c Lactose-positive strains are occasionally isolated.<br />
d Nonpigmented strains are occasionally isolated.<br />
Biotype<br />
A1 A2 A6 A3 A4<br />
a b a b a a b c d a b A5 a b c<br />
A8<br />
(Sifuentes-Osornio and Gröschel, 1987). Differentiation<br />
between S. proteamaculans biotypes<br />
Cla and Clb is superfluous; electrophoresis of<br />
proteinases (Grimont et al., 1977a) could not discriminate<br />
between these two biotypes.<br />
Serotyping of <strong>Serratia</strong> marcescens<br />
TCT TC TT<br />
Growth on:<br />
m-Erythritol + + + + + + + + + + + − − − − − − −<br />
Trigonelline − − − + − − + − + − − + + + + + − +<br />
Quinate and/or 4-hydroxybenzoate − − − − + − − − − + − + + + + − − −<br />
3-Hydroxybenzoate − − − − − + + − − − − − − + − − − −<br />
Benzoate + + − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − −<br />
D-Malate/m-tartrate b + − + + v − − v − + + + v − − + + −<br />
Gentisate − − + + + + + v − + + − v + v − − −<br />
Lactose − − − − − − c − − c − c − c − − c − − c + − c − c −<br />
Tetrathionate reduction + + + + + + + + + − − + + + + + + +<br />
Red pigment + d + d + + + d − − − − − − − − − − − − −<br />
<strong>The</strong> systematic inventory of somatic (O) antigens<br />
of S. marcescens began in 1957 (Davis and<br />
Woodward, 1957). Flagellar antigens (H) were<br />
described (Ewing et al., 1959) and an antigenic<br />
scheme was developed (Ewing, 1986; Ewing et<br />
al., 1959; Le Minor and Pigache, 1977, 1978; Le