title: Detection of phosphatase production by Staphylococcus species: a new method.
abstract: The ability of staphylococci to produce phosphatase is an important character in the identification of species in the genus. Current methods are slow and difficult to interpret. A test is described which uses p-nitrophenyl phosphate as the substrate. It was evaluated by testing 1035 reference and clinical strains, and also compared with an alternative method. All strains of Staphylococcus aureus and 83% of Staphylococcus epidermidis were phosphatase positive: all strains of Staphylococcus saprophyticus were negative. The method proved to be an accurate, reliable, economic and relatively rapid technique to detect phosphatase production.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Geary
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stevens
mesh_terms: D000362:Agar; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D009596:Nitrophenols; D009943:Organophosphorus Compounds; D010744:Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D013210:Staphylococcus / Q000145:classification / Q000201:enzymology*
chemical_list: D009596:Nitrophenols; D009943:Organophosphorus Compounds; C008644:nitrophenylphosphate; D000362:Agar; D010744:Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases