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. 1975 Apr;29(4):451–454. doi: 10.1128/am.29.4.451-454.1975

Reassessment of the Coagulase and Thermortable Nuclease Tests as Means of Identifying Staphylococcus aureus

M K Rayman 1, C E Park 1, J Philpott 1, E C D Todd 1
PMCID: PMC187003  PMID: 1124918

Abstract

A total of 91 enterotoxigenic strains of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from foods and tested for production of coagulase and thermostable nuclease and the ability to ferment glucose and mannitol showed, with the exception of four strains, a complete correlation among these properties. A similar correlation was observed with 103 cultures of S. aureus isolated from clinical material. In all instances, the coagulase reactions were sufficiently strong to be scored at either the 3+ or 4+ levels. Presumptive staphylococcal cultures isolated during routine examination of foods and yielding 2+ coagulase reactions or lower were invariably negative for themostable nuclease production. It is suggested that the thermostable nuclease test be performed on cultures with doubtful coagulase reactions before classifying them as S. aureus.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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