Characterization of clostridia isolated from faeces of limited flora mice and their effect on caecal size when associated with germ-free mice

115 strains of clostridia were accumulated from 3 separate isolations from the faeces of 1 limited flora (LF) mouse produced by inoculation of germ-free mice with chloroform-treated faeces of conventional mice. These strains were divided into 36 types on the basis of conventional biochemical characteristics. There was some variation in types isolated on the 3 occasions. Although 3 groups of polyassociated (PA) mice were produced from mixing 46 monoassociated mice, each inoculated with 1 of 46 strains of 36 bacterial types, the caecal size of PA mice was still greater than that of the control mice prepared by inoculation of chloroform-treated faeces of an LF mouse. After PA mice of each group were housed together, the caecal size became smaller and was only slightly larger than the control.