Characterization of ornithine decarboxylase-positive, nonmotile strains of the Klebsiella-Enterobacter group

Abstract

Thirty-seven strains of ornithine decarboxylase-positive, nonmotile Klebsiella-Enterobacter organisms isolated from 36 patients were studied by biochemical and serological testing. Five strains gave biochemical reactions which conformed closely to those of Escherichia coli; three strains gave positive Quellung reactions to specific Klebsiella antisera. (Two of these were thought to be Enterobacter in spite of this typing reaction.) The remaining 29 strains were classified as Enterobacter. These results demonstrate the necessity of doing both an ornithine decarboxylase test and a motility test to differentiate Klebsiella from Enterobacter. Had only a motility test been done, they all would have been called Klebsiella.