A reliable scheme for the differentiation of certain species of oral streptococci has been developed. It employs a commercial biochemical test system (API 50L) modified to accommodate some of the oral streptococci. The scheme relies primarily on eight biochemical reactions, which demonstrate consistent results. Compared to Shklair and Keene's very useful biochemical scheme, our scheme employs additional definitive tests, is a much simpler system technically, and can differentiate a proposed new species, S. ferus.
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