ISOLATION OF EWINGELLA-AMERICANA FROM THE CULTIVATED MUSHROOM, AGARICUS-BISPORUS

The isolation of Ewingella americana, an unusual Enterobacteriaceae, i s reported here for the first time in a non-animal reservoir. Thirty-f ive strains of E. americana have been recovered from the cultivated mu shroom, Agaricus bisporus. The biochemical characteristics of these st rains are consistent with previously published descriptions of this sp ecies recovered from clinical specimens and from molluscs. DNA reassoc iation analysis was used to confirm the identity of mushroom-derived E . americana, and restriction fragment length polymorphism was used to reliably differentiate strains that otherwise demonstrated little phen otypic variation.