Discrimination between oral streptococci by pyrolysis gas-liquid chromatography

Abstract

Washed organisms, including strains of Streptococcus mitior, S. mutans, and S. sanguis, were examined by curie-point pyrolysis gas-liquid chromatography. A linear discriminant function based upon three items from the output data was adequate for segregating the strains according to species. Strains with intermediate properties were also encountered. Sources of variability in cultures were evaluated, chromatographic performance was maintained throughout the investigation, and matching performance from a duplicate pair of chromatographic columns was demonstrated.