PHENOTYPIC CHARACTERISTICS OF 31 STRAINS OF CORYNEBACTERIUM-STRIATUM ISOLATED FROM CLINICAL-SAMPLES

During a 33-month period (January 1991 to October 1993), 31 Corynebact erium striatum strains recovered from clinical samples from 24 patient s were characterized, Twenty (61%) strains were isolated from wound ex udates, 5 (16%) were isolated from bronchial aspirates, 2 (7%) were is olated from urine, 2 (7%) were isolated from endotracheal tubes, 1 (3% ) was isolated from a catheter, and 1 (3%) was isolated from empyema. The organisms were identified by conventional culture and phenotypic c haracterization, the API CORYNE system, and cellular fatty acid compos ition analyses. The colonies of C. striatum could be confused with tho se of coagulase-negative staphylococci upon primary isolation from cli nical material, A consistent phenotypic pattern was observed: all stra ins reduced nitrate, hydrolyzed tyrosine, and produced acid from gluco se, fructose, and sucrose but not from maltose. API CORYNE profile num bers were 3100105 (28 strains) and 3000105 (3 strains). Susceptibility testing of C. striatum was performed by disk diffusion. All strains w ere susceptible to both imipenem and vancomycin and resistant to fosfo mycin; most strains were susceptible to ampicillin and cephalosporins and resistant to clindamycin, erythromycin, and tetracycline. Performi ng a Gram stain of fosfomycin-resistant ''Staphylococcus-like'' coloni es was critical in order to identify C. striatum.