Abstract
The biochemical characteristics ofYersinia pestis are presented and compared with those ofY. pseudotuberculosis. Motility at 28°C, urease, fermentation of rhamnose, and growth rate on nutrient agar are the best means of separating these organisms. DNA hybridization studies demonstrated thatY. pestis strains are 90% or more interrelated and thatY. pestis andY. pseudotuberculosis are indistinguishable by DNA relatedness. On the basis of DNA data and biochemical and antigenic similarity, these organisms should be treated as two separate subspecies of the same species.Y. pseudotuberculosis was described beforeY. pestis and therefore has priority.Y. pseudotuberculosis subsp.pseudotuberculosis andY. pseudotuberculosis subsp.pestis are recommended as new designations forY. pseudotuberculosis andY. pestis. For medical purposes,Y. pestis andY. pseudotuberculosis can and should continue to be used.
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Bercovier, H., Mollaret, H.H., Alonso, J.M. et al. Intra- and interspecies relatedness ofYersinia pestis by DNA hybridization and its relationship toYersinia pseudotuberculosis . Current Microbiology 4, 225–229 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02605861
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02605861