Numerical taxonomy of an ‘atypical’ population of Gram-positive cocci isolated from freshly dressed lamb carcasses

One hundred Gram-positive, catalase-positive strains were isolated from freshly dressed lamb carcasses. They were randomly selected from a non-selective medium and tested for 75 characters. Only nine cultures could be identified by conventional methods. A numerical taxonomic study was conducted on the whole population and 25 reference strains. At the 80% similarity level (Ssm), ten clusters were formed. Five of them were entirely composed of reference strains. Phena V and VIII contained seven isolates and two reference strains of Micrococcus. Phena VI (six unidentified isolates), VII (nine staphylococi) and IX (69 unidentified isolates) were more related to M. kristinae than to the remaining reference strains. Properties with possible implications in meat spoilage were: strong lipolytic activity (76%), anaerobic growth (85%), tolerance to 15% (wv) NaCl (95%) and ability to grow at 15 °C (95%) and 4 °C (26%).