title: Use of cycloserine-cefoxitin-fructose agar and L-proline-aminopeptidase (PRO Discs) in the rapid identification of Clostridium difficile.
abstract: The PRO Disc (Carr-Scarborough Microbiologicals, Inc., Decatur, Ga.) can be used to screen for L-proline-aminopeptidase produced by Clostridium difficile grown on cycloserine-cefoxitin-fructose agar (CCFA). Fifty stored isolates of C. difficile (48 toxin-positive and 2 toxin-negative isolates) and 47 fresh C. difficile isolates (39 toxin-positive and 8 toxin-negative isolates) were all PRO Disc positive. Other Clostridium species that were PRO Disc positive could be differentiated from C. difficile by failure to grow on CCFA, different colonial morphology on CCFA, or morphology upon Gram staining.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Pathology Department, Warren G. Magnuson, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA. dfedorko@nih.gov
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Fedorko
authors.forename: E C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D000362:Agar; D000626:Aminopeptidases; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D002440:Cefoxitin; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000145:classification*; D003523:Cycloserine; D005632:Fructose
chemical_list: D005632:Fructose; D002440:Cefoxitin; D000362:Agar; D003523:Cycloserine; D000626:Aminopeptidases; C022450:prolyl aminopeptidase