TAXONOMIC STUDY ON HIOCHI-BACTERIA, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC ACID BASE COMPOSITION AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF BACTERIAL CELL WALL

Twenty-two strains of hiochi-bacteria were analyzed for their deoxyribonucleic acid base composition and chemical composition of their cell wall. Guanine plus cytosine content of DNA (GC content) of hetero-fermentative true hiochi-bacilli ranged from 38.3 to 38.8%. As for homo-fermentative hiochi-bacteria, GC content of true hiochi-bacilli, which were grouped without regard to requirement of mevalonic acid, fell in the range of 34.6-36.8%. Chemical composition of the cell wall of these homo-fermentative true hiochi-bacilli was similar. These results were discussed with reference to the classification of hiochi-bacteria.