FAMILY VII. SPIRILLACEAE 



255 



Winter, in Rabenhorst's Kryptogamen- 

 Flora, ;, Die Pilze, 1884, 63.) 



ser'pens. L. v. serpo to crawl or creep; L. 

 part. adj. serpens creeping. 



Long, curved rods with two (o three wave- 

 like undulation.s, 0.8 to 1.0 micron in di- 

 ameter; wave length, 8 to 9 micron.s. Width 

 of spiral, 1.5 to 1.8 microns. Volutin granules 

 in cytoplasm. Motile, possessing tufts of 

 fiagella at both poles. Gram-negative. 



Gelatin colonies: Yellowish to brownish, 

 granular, entire. 



Gelatin stab: Yellowish surface growth. 

 Slow liquefaction. 



Agar colonies: Heavy cream-colored 

 growth. 



Agar slant: Grayish, with yellowish 

 center, granular, entire. 



Broth: Turbid. 



Litmus milk: Unchanged. 



Potato: Clear orange-yellow growth. 



Indole not produced. 



Catalase-positive. 



Nitrites not produced from nitrates. 



Aerobic, facultative. 



Optimum temperature, 35° C. 



Habitat: Stagnant water. 



3. Spirillum itersonii Giesberger, 1936. 

 (Inaug. Diss., Utrecht, 1936, 46 and 57.) 



i.ter.so'ni.i. M.L. gen. noun itersonii of 

 Iterson; named for G. van Iterson, a Dutch 

 bacteriologist. 



The smallest of the spirilla isolated from 

 water. First observed by van Iterson (Proc. 

 Kon. Akad. v. Wetensch. Amsterdam, 5, 

 1902, 685). 



Small spirals, 0.5 micron in diameter. 

 Wave length, 3 to 3.5 microns. Spiral width, 

 1 to 1.5 microns. Motile by means of bipolar 

 tufts of fiagella. Gram-negative. 



Gelatin stab: No liquefaction. 



Grows readily on peptone agar. White 

 colonies becoming brownish black and 

 slightly wrinkled. 



Potato: Brownish orange growth. 



Acid from glucose, fructose, ethyl alcohol, 

 n -propyl alcohol, n-butyl alcohol and 

 glj'cerol. Utilizes acetic, propionic, n-bu- 

 tyric, tartaric, fumaric, lactic, citric and 

 succinic acids. 



Grows well in pe])tone broth. Also utilizes 

 ammonium compounds. 



Catalase-positive. 



Anaerobic growth in the presence of 

 nitrates when organic or ammonia nitrogen 

 is also available. 



Optimum temperature, 30° C. 



Source: Isolated from water. 



Habitat: Water. 



4. Spirillum tenue Khrenberg, 1838. 

 (Die Infusionsthierchen als vollkommende 

 Organismen. Leipzig, 1838; also see Bon- 

 hoff. Arch. f. Hyg., 26, 1896, 162.) 



te'nu.e. L. adj. tenuis thin. 



Slender spirals 0.7 micron in diameter. 

 Wave lengths, 4.5 to 5.0 microns; width of 

 wave, 1.5 to 1.8 microns. Activel}' motile in 

 peptone water by means of tufts of fiagella 

 at each pole. Volutin granules present. 

 Gram-negative. 



Gelatin stab: No liquefaction. 



Agar colonies: White, smooth. 



Peptone agar slant: Heavy growth. 



Potato: Light brown growth. 



Acid from glucose and fructose. Slight 

 acid from several other sugars and glycerols. 

 Utilizes salts of acetic, propionic, n-butyric, 

 tartaric, lactic, citric, malic and succinic 

 acids. 



Ammonia compounds are used as a source 

 of nitrogen. 



Catalase-positive. 



Optimum temperature, 30° C. 



Source: Isolated from putrefying vege- 

 table matter. 



Habitat: Putrefying materials. 



5. Spirillum virginianum Dimitroff, 

 1926. (Jour. Bact., 12, 1926, 19.) 



vir.gi.ni.a'num. M.L. adj. virginianus 

 Virginian; named for the State of Virginia. 



Spirals consisting of )^ to 3 complete 

 turns in young cultures, older cultures show- 

 ing 7 turns; 0.6 to 0.9 by 3 to 11 microns. No 

 volutin granules observed (Giesberger, 

 Inaug. Diss., Delft, 1936, 60). Motile by 

 means of a single, polar flagellum on one or 

 both ends. Gram-negative. 



Gelatin colonies: Entire, conve.x, circular, 

 moist, colorless. 



