technique, and 9 of 20 when an anaerobic jar was used). Thus, anaerobic fermentation of mannitol seems to be too exacting a criterion, but all methods using glucose fermentation classified the 20 coagulase-positive strains as staphylococci. The classification of other staphylococci into S. saprophyticus and S. lactis on their ability to produce acetoin from glucose (Shaw et al.) was not support...

1. Chambers HF. Methicillin resistance in staphylococci: molecular and biochemical basis and clinical implications. Clin Microb Rev 1997; 10: 781–91. 2. Brown DFJ. Detection of methicillin/oxacillin resistance in staphylococci. J Antimicrob Chemother 2001; 48 Suppl S1: 65–70. 3. Skov R, Smyth R, Larsen AR et al. Evaluation of cefoxitin 5 and 10 mg discs for the detection of methicillin resistan...

Taxo A bacitracin disks (BBL Microbiology Systems, Cockeysville, Md.) were evaluated as a test for differentiating staphylococci from micrococci in clinical laboratories. All staphylococci tested were resistant to the disks, with no zone of growth inhibition. Zones of growth inhibition ranging from 10.5 to 25.0 mm in diameter were observed with all micrococci except two isolates which failed to...