The Hydrolysis of Tween 80 by Vibrios and Aeromonads

Summary. A total of 307 strains consisting of 89 Vibrio cholerae , 37 NAG vibrios, 4 Aeromonas sp., 20 Pseudomonas aeruginosa , 47 shigellae, 59 Escherichia coli , 27 Proteus mirabilis and 25 salmonellae were examined for their opacity reaction in Tween 80 agar medium. Strong reactions occurred with 87 V. cholerae , 26 NAG vibrios, 2 Aeromonas and 5 Pseudomonas strains; and weak and slow positive reactions were noted in only 6 strains of NAG vibrios and 3 of Pseudomonas ; no reaction was observed among the remaining strains. The study showed that Tween 80 hydrolysis can be used as a test for characterization of the Vibrio and Aeromonas groups and for their differentiation from the Enterobacteriaceae.