Amended Data on Arginine Utilization by Spiroplasma Species

Abstract

Hydrolysis of arginine is a classical diagnostic test for species in the mollicute order Entomoplasmatales. In this paper we report data for arginine utilization by spiroplasmas, as determined by standard methods. In addition, modified methods were developed for fastidious spiroplasmas, such as strain LD-1T (T = type strain), the Colorado potato beetle spiroplasma. Twenty-one spiroplasma strains representing 13 groups or subgroups and eight ungrouped spiroplasmas (seven of which represent putative groups) were studied. The arginine reactions of eight strains were the same as the reactions reported previously, but previously reported positive tests for spiroplasma subgroups I-5 and I-6 (Spiroplasma insolitum) could not be repeated, and the data for the latter taxa are corrected. Although other workers have reported that addition of carbohydrate to media may be necessary for the utilization of arginine, the presence of glucose tended to obscure arginine hydrolysis in our studies.