Paper Chromatography as an Aid to the Identification of Nocardia Species

SUMMARY: A simple method of detecting arabinose by paper chromatography in the cell-walls of aerobic actinomycetes is described. Mycobacteria and Nocardia species are rich in arabinose while saprophytic species of Streptomyces are deficient. Pathogenic Streptomyces species tend to fall between the two extremes but Streptomyces somaliensis is apparently nearly devoid of arabinose.