Abstract
Glucose represses production of ammonium in many clinical isolates ofNocardia asteroides growing on bromcresolpurple casein glucose agar. Strains exhibiting this property are designated as group A, while group B represents isolates showing a high degree of proteolytic activity and a resulting rapid increase in pH. Twenty isolates ofN. asteroides were characterized as group A or B. Enzymatic profiles obtained using the API YeastIdent system showed significant enzymatic variation between 12 group B and 8 group A isolates. Proteolytic enzymes which most varied in activity between groups were glycine aminopeptidase, histidine aminopeptidase and leucyl glycine aminopeptidase. As some of theN. asteroides isolates were isolated from asymptomatic patients, it is of interest to consider the possibility of one group being of low virulence while the other is more strongly associated with infection.
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Richter, S., Kane, J., Summerbell, R.C. et al. Application of the API YeastIdent system in determining the enzymatic profiles ofNocardia asteroides isolates. Mycopathologia 129, 1–4 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01139330
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01139330