CHAPTER |
USING THIS MANUAL
Although this edition of Bergey's Manual of Determina- the general principles and approaches used in bacterial
tive Bacteriology contains much/information derived identification. It is particularly important to under-
from the four volumes of Bergey’s Manual of Systematic stand that the identification schemes presented in this
Bacteriology, it should not be considered an abridged manual are not classification schemes. The features that
version of the latter work. Instead, it deals specifically are used to differentiate various organisms often have
with one aspect of bacterial taxonomy, viz., the identifi- little to do with the fundamental basis for arranging
cation of bacteria. It has been specially designed for the organisms into taxonomic groups.
”
those persons who are primarily engaged in the identifi-
cation of bacteria and who are not concerned with clas-
sification (arranging organisms into taxa) or
nomenclature (naming of organisms). Moreover, it has Step 2. Is My Isolate a Procaryotic
been updated with regard to various nomenclatural Microorganism or a Eucaryotic
changes and new taxa that have been described since the
Systematic volumes were published.
Microorganism?
Although this book contains much information that is This manual is used for identification of bacteria (pro-
useful for bacterial identification, it does not contain the caryotes). Thus, the microorganism to be identified
wealth of descriptive information on genera and species must be a bacterium rather than a microscopic eucary-
that is provided by Bergey’s Manual ofSystematic Bacteri- ote (mold, yeast, alga, or protozoan) in order to use the
ology. For example, it does not contain detailed descrip- identification schemes in this manual. Chapter III pro-
tions of the species, information pertaining to the vides a table of characteristics that differentiate procary-
classification and nomenclature of bacteria, or methods otes from eucaryotes.
for enrichment and isolation of various species. Also,
we have not included identification schemes for certain
groups of genera or species because either they require
very sophisticated methods for cultivation and/or identi- Step 3. To Which Major Category of
fication (e.g., the rickettsias) or there is a lack of suffi- Bacteria Does My Isolate Belong?
cient differential characteristics (e.g., species of Bacillus).
For practical purposes, bacteria can be divided into four
major categories:
A General Approach to Using the
Manual Ib Gram-negative eubacteria that have cell walls,
It is assumed that the reader has isolated a microorga-
nism and now wishes to identify it. The following six II. Gram-positive eubacteria that have cell walls,
steps provide a general approach to this task.
Ill. eubacteria lacking cell walls,
Step 1. The Nature of Bacterial
ly: the archaeobacteria.
Identification Schemes
The reader is urged to read Chapter II (The Nature of Chapter IV provides characteristics that allow differenti-
Bacterial Identification Schemes) to become familiar with ation of these four categories.
Bergey’s Manual of Determinative Bacteriology-9
Step 4. To Which Group Does My
Isolate Belong?
After assignment to the proper major bacterial category,
the next step is to determine the appropriate section in
the manual that discusses it. Chapter V provides listings
of the groups within each major category and a brief
description of the kinds of bacteria contained within
each group.
Step 5. To Which Genus Does My
Isolate Belong?
Most groups in the manual provide one or more tables
or keys indicating characteristics that can be used to
differentiate the genera within the group.
Step 6. To Which Species Does My
Isolate Belong?
Most genus descriptions are accompanied by one or
more tables that allow differentiation of the species con-
tained in the genus.
