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The ability of Yersinia to digest polypectate may be of some value in differentiating Y. enterocolitica and Y. pseudotuberculosis from some of the other fermenting gram-negative bacilli, such as Enterobacter agglomerans, with which they can be confused. Pectolytic activity in Yersinia may also have some teleologic or taxonomic significance about which we do not care to speculate.
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V. Lyle Von Riesen (1975) studied this question.
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