Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of Clinical Microbiology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Microbiology
. 1979 Feb;9(2):180–185. doi: 10.1128/jcm.9.2.180-185.1979

Accuracy and reproducibility of the Oxi/Ferm system in identifying a select group of unusual gram-negative bacilli.

H Nadler, H George, J Barr
PMCID: PMC272986  PMID: 372222

Abstract

The Oxi/Ferm (O/F) identification system was compared in a double-blind study to a conventional test battery for the characterization of 96 reference and clinical strains consisting of 83 nonfermentative and 13 oxidase-producing, fermentative gram-negative bacilli. The O/F tube and supplemental tests correctly identified 84% of the nonfermentative and 77% of the oxidase-producing, fermentative bacilli. However, when the supplemental tests were excluded and the biochemical profiles generated by all nine O/F tube reactions were examined, the profile accuracy reached 95% (79 of 83) for the nonfermentative and 93% (12 of 13) for oxidase-producing, fermentative bacilli. Seven of the nine O/F substrate reactions demonstrated less than or equal to 89% agreement with conventional reactions, whereas the urea and arginine reactions provided 82 and 85% agreement, respectively. Replicate O/F tests with six selected organisms demonstrated 97% identification reproducibility and 84% overall substrate reproducibility. The mean O/F identification time was 2.6 days as compared to 3.3 days for the conventional system. Although this study suggests that the O/F system is a convenient, rapid, and accurate alternative to conventional identification methods, several modifications are recommended.

Full text

PDF
180

Selected References

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

  1. Bauer A. W., Kirby W. M., Sherris J. C., Turck M. Antibiotic susceptibility testing by a standardized single disk method. Am J Clin Pathol. 1966 Apr;45(4):493–496. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Cabrera H. A., Drake M. A. An epidemic in a coronary care unit caused by Pseudomonas species. Am J Clin Pathol. 1975 Nov;64(5):700–704. doi: 10.1093/ajcp/64.5.700. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Dowda H. Evaluation of two rapid methods for identification of commonly encountered nonfermenting or oxidase-positive, Gram-negative rods. J Clin Microbiol. 1977 Dec;6(6):605–609. doi: 10.1128/jcm.6.6.605-609.1977. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Gilardi G. L. Infrequently encountered Pseudomonas species causing infection in humans. Ann Intern Med. 1972 Aug;77(2):211–215. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-77-2-211. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Henriksen S. D. Moraxella, Acinetobacter, and the Mimeae. Bacteriol Rev. 1973 Dec;37(4):522–561. doi: 10.1128/br.37.4.522-561.1973. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Isenberg H. D., Sampson-Scherer J. Clinical laboratory evaluation of a system approach to the recognition of nonfermentative or oxidase-producing gram-negative, rod-shaped bacteria. J Clin Microbiol. 1977 Mar;5(3):336–340. doi: 10.1128/jcm.5.3.336-340.1977. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Kilbourn J. P. Oxi-fermTM system. Am J Med Technol. 1977 Dec;43(12):1167–1168. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Lapage S. P., Bascomb S., Willcox W. R., Curtis M. A. Identification of bacteria by computer: general aspects and perspectives. J Gen Microbiol. 1973 Aug;77(2):273–290. doi: 10.1099/00221287-77-2-273. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Lee W. S. Use of Mueller-Hinton agar as amylase testing medium. J Clin Microbiol. 1976 Sep;4(3):312–312. doi: 10.1128/jcm.4.3.312-312.1976. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Ngel J. G., Kunz L. J. Simplified storage and retrieval of stock cultures. Appl Microbiol. 1972 Apr;23(4):837–838. doi: 10.1128/am.23.4.837-838.1972. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Nord C. E., Wretlind B., Dahlbäck A. Evaluation of two test-kits--API and Oxi Ferm tube--for identification of oxidative-fermentative Gram-negative rods. Med Microbiol Immunol. 1977 Jul 18;163(2):93–97. doi: 10.1007/BF02121824. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Oberhofer T. R., Rowen J. W., Cunningham G. F., Higbee J. W. Evaluation of the oxi/ferm tube system with selected Gram-negative bacteria. J Clin Microbiol. 1977 Dec;6(6):559–566. doi: 10.1128/jcm.6.6.559-566.1977. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Rosenthal S. L. Sources of pseudomonas and acinetobacter species found in human culture materials. Am J Clin Pathol. 1974 Dec;62(6):807–811. doi: 10.1093/ajcp/62.6.807. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Shayegani M., Lee A. M., McLynn D. M. Evaluation of the Oxi/Ferm tube system for identification of nonfermentative Gram-negative bacilli. J Clin Microbiol. 1978 Jun;7(6):533–538. doi: 10.1128/jcm.7.6.533-538.1978. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Von Graevenitz A., Weinstein J. Pathogenic significance of Pseudomonas fluorescens and Pseudomonas putida. Yale J Biol Med. 1971 Dec;44(3):265–273. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Clinical Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES