Studies at the Northern Regional Research
Center demonstrated that lactobacilli are the
predominant bacteria involved in cattle wastecorn
fermentations (12). The principal Lactobacillus
species identified were L. buchneri, L.
ferrnentum, L. plantarum, L. casei, and L. delbrueckii.
By the use of LBS (Lactobacillus selection)
agar (29) enriched with 1% corn starch,
it was revealed that of the presumed lactobacilli
enumerated some were capable of hydrolyzing
starch (13). Because active starch metabolism is
a characteristic not commonly exhibited by lactobacilli,
the following questions concerning the
taxonomic position of these starch hydrolyzers
were raised. (i) Were these organisms unusual
strains of presently recognized Lacto bacillus
species? (ii) Were they strains of hitherto unrecognized
Lacto bacillus species? (iii) Were they
other starch-hydrolyzing bacteria capable of
growing on LBS agar?