The Journal of Medical Microbiology, Vol 35, Issue 6 367-372, Copyright © 1991 by Society for General Microbiology

JOURNAL ARTICLE

A scheme for the identification of viridans streptococci

D. Beighton, J. M. Hardie and R. A. Whiley
Hunterian Dental Research Unit, London Hospital Medical College.

A collection of strains representing all the currently recognised species of oral or viridans streptococci (Streptococcus sanguis, S. parasanguis, S. gordonii, S. oralis, S. mitis, S. salivarius, S. vestibularis, S. anginosus, S. constellatus, s. intermedius, S. mutans and S. sobrinus) were tested for the production of a range of glycosidase activities with 4-methylumbelliferyl-linked fluorogenic substrates, and for reactions in a range of conventional fermentation and hydrolytic tests. The resulting biochemical scheme, consisting of 14 tests, enabled the differentiation of all these species and distinguished three biotypes within S. sanguis. The scheme reported here represents an improvement over currently available schemes for the identification of viridans streptococci.

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