FAMILY VII. SPIRILLACEAE 



259 



2. Selenonionas sputigena (Fliigge, 

 1886, emend. Muhlens, 1909) Dobell, 1932. 

 (Spirillum sputigenum Fliigge, Die Mikro- 

 organismen, 2 Aufl., 1886, 387; Muhlens, 

 Cent. f. Bakt., I Abt., Orig., 48, 1909, 524; 

 Selenomonas sputigena Boskamp (nomen 

 provisorium) , Cent. f. Bakt., I Abt., Orig., 

 88, 1922, 70; Dobell, Antony van Leeuwen- 

 hoek and His "Little Animals". New York, 

 1932, 239, plate XXIV, and 245, footnote 2; 

 Vibrio sputigenus Pr^vot, Man. de Classif. 

 des Bact. Anaer., Paris, 1« ed., 1940, 85; not 

 Vibrio sputigenus Bergey et al., Manual, 

 1st ed., 1923, 80.) 



spu.ti'ge.na. L. noun sputum spit, spu- 

 tum; L. V. gigno to produce; M.L. adj. 

 sputigenus sputum-produced. 



Description taken from Muhlens (op. cit., 

 1909, 524). Also see Hoffmann and von Pro- 

 wazek (Cent. f. Bakt., I Abt., Orig., 4i , 

 1906, 820), von Prowazek (ibid., 70, 1913, 36) 

 and Macdonald (Thesis, Univ. of Toronto, 

 1953,95 pp.). 



Comma- and crescent-shaped cells, 

 thicker and longer than the cholera vibrio, 

 occasionally occurring in pairs in the form 

 of an S. Motility is vibratory, rotating, 

 whirling and boring in nature. Dobell (op. 

 cit., 1932, 245) feels that the type of motility 

 depicted in Leeuwenhoek's drawing (ibid., 

 239, plate XXIV, Fig. B, with motion shown 

 in C to D) is so characteristic of Spirillum 

 sputigenum that the organism labelled Fig. 

 B by Leeuwenhoek is, in all probability. 

 Spirillum sputigenum Miller. Hoffmann and 

 von Prowazek {op. cit., 1906, 820) describe 

 this organism as a crescent-shaped rod with 

 a thick flagellum that appears to be attached 

 on the concave side. Muhlens {op. cit., 1909, 

 525) reports 1 to 3 flagella, the majority of 

 the organisms having a single thick flagel- 

 lum (a tuft of flagella) on the concave side. 

 Von Prowazek {op. cit., 1913, 36) later shows 

 excellent figures of these thick flagella 

 treated with Giemsa's stain. These figures 

 show that the thick flagellum is really a tuft 

 of flagella which may separate like the 

 bristles of a paint brush. Stains pale red 

 with Giemsa's stain. 



Horse-serum agar stab: Fine, hazy 

 colonies develop in the low portions. Growth 

 begins in 1 to 3 days as fine, cloudy colonies 

 with somewhat thicker, yellowish centers 



and increases to a thick streak, opaque in 

 the center and cloudy-transparent at the 

 edges. 



Kutscher's placenta agar: Good growth. 

 Anaerobic growth in the lower two-thirds 

 of stab and shake cultures. No visible gas 

 produced. 



Serum broth: No growth. 



The following characters are from Mac- 

 donald {op. cit. 1953) : 



Blood agar: Growth occurred only when 

 plates were reduced immediately after 

 streaking. Colonies were smooth, convex, 

 grayish yellow, and less than 0.5 mm in 

 diameter. 



Difco thioglycollate broth: Growth heavy 

 and granular in 48 hrs. The best fluid me- 

 dium in which to maintain cultures. 



Difco thioglj'coUate agar shake cultures: 

 Irregularly shaped, yellow colonies. 



Litmus milk: Acid and coagulated. 



Acid from glucose and sucrose. Slight 

 acid from mannitol. 



Indole not produced. 



Hydrogen sulfide not produced. 



Nitrites produced from nitrates. 



Optimum temperature, 37°C. Growth 

 range, from 20° to 45° C. The pH range for 

 growth is 4.5 to 8.6 with the best growth 

 between 5.5 and 8.6. 



Not pathogenic for guinea pigs injected 

 subcutaneously or intracardially, nor for 

 mice injected intraperitoneally. 



Distinctive characters: Early investiga- 

 tors described an organism of this type but 

 were unable to culture it, e.g. Lewis (Lancet, 

 Sept. 20, 1884, who regarded the organism 

 he found as identical with the cholera 

 vibrio) and Miller (The Microorganisms of 

 the Human Mouth, Philadelphia, 1890, 75) ; 

 Miller also gives an excellent discussion of 

 the early work. Muhlens {op. cit., 1909, 526) 

 described a variety of this species with 

 smaller cells. 



While Macdonald describes this species 

 as peritrichous, he reports (personal com- 

 munication) that others have felt that his 

 electron micrographs could be interpreted 

 as showing a cluster of flagella attached at 

 the middle of the concave side of the cres- 

 cent-shaped cells, and that in dark field 

 examination he observed, as had earlier 

 workers, a single heavy flagellum attached 



