FAMILY I. CARYOPHANACEAE 



831 



II. Non-motile trichomes. Found in the buccal cavities of vertebrates. 



Genus III. Simonsiella, p. 833. 



Genus I. Caryophanon Peshkoff, 1940. 

 (Jour. Gen. Biol. (Russian), 1, 1940, 611 and 616.) 



Ca.ry.o'pha.non. Gr. nouncaryum nut, kernel, nucleus; Gr. adj. phanus bright, conspicu- 

 ous; M.L. neut.n. Caryophanon that which has a conspicuous nucleus. 



During active growth, the large filamentous and bacillary structures are essentially tri- 

 chomes containing packed, discoid, protoplasmic units separated by internal crosswalls. 

 The unstained trichome has the appearance of alternating light and dark bands. Trichomes 

 may form long, unsheathed filaments. Spherical, single-celled structures are commonly 

 seen. Kelley (Thesis, Ohio State Univ., 1952) states that the internal crosswalls are 

 complete and that the chromatinic material is either disc-shaped or spherical depending 

 upon the shape of the cell. Found in fresh cow dung. 



The type species is Caryophanon latum Peshkoff. 



1. Caryophanon latum Peshkoff, 1940. 

 (Compt. rend. (Doklady) Acad. Sci., 

 U.R.S.S., Nouvelle S^r. 25, 1939, 244; Jour. 

 Gen. Biol. (Russian), 1, 1940, 527; Micro- 

 biology (Russian), 15, 1946, 189.) 



la'tum. L. adj. latus broad. 



Additional descriptive material taken 

 from Pringsheim and Robinow (Jour. Gen. 

 Microbiol. (London), 1, 1947, 267), Weeks 

 and Kelley (Bact. Proc, Soc. Amer. Bact., 

 1951, 39) and Kelley (Thesis, Ohio State 

 University, 1952). 



Trichomes measure 3 or more microns by 

 6 to 20 microns. The bacillary unit or tri- 

 chome shows alternating light and dark 

 bands completely traversing the structure. 

 The ends of the trichomes are rounded. The 

 light bands seen in the unstained, fresh, wet 

 mounts are the basic, discoid protoplasmic 

 units; the dark bands are internal cross- 

 walls. Each protoplasmic unit may extend 

 from 0.6 to 1.8 microns along the longitu- 

 dinal axis of the trichome, the crosswalls 

 occupying from 0.15 to 0.3 micron of the 

 same dimension. The number of discoid 

 protoplasmic units per trichome varies from 

 4 to 22 depending on the length and age of 

 the trichome and upon the cultural condi- 

 tions. Trichomes divide transversely. Older 

 populations (24 hours to 4 days), or cultures 

 growing under unfavorable conditions, con- 

 tain, or show exclusively, spherical cells 3 

 microns in diameter, each containing a 

 single protoplasmic unit. Nuclear structures 

 of discoid cells are disc-shaped, of spherical 

 cells, rounded (Kelley). Trichomes may 

 form unsheathed filaments up to 200 microns 



in length. The diameters of trichomes and 

 spherical cells may lessen as much as 50 

 per cent on cultivation for a j'ear or more 

 in the laboratory. 



Motility: Trichomes show active motility 

 even when they grow out into long filaments. 

 The spherical units are less active. Peri- 

 trichous flagella. 



Agar colonies : Colonies are 1 to 2 mm in 

 diameter with entire or slightly undulating 

 margins. Original isolations usually develop 

 smooth colonies. Rough colonies predom- 

 inate during laboratory cultivation. Long 

 filaments tend to occur in the rough colo- 

 nies; short, individual trichomes occur in 

 the smooth colonies. The colonies appear 

 in 6 to 8 hours on peptone-yeast extract- 

 sodium acetate agar (Pringsheim and Rob- 

 inow). Irregular giant' forms may develop 

 from older cultures (Peshkoff). 



Rapid growth on peptone-yeast extract- 

 sodium acetate agar, pH 7.6 to 7.8. Also on 

 cow dung extract agar, pH 7.8 to 8.0. Growth 

 at pH 7.0 produces spherical units. No 

 growth on nutrient agar (Pringsheim and 

 Robinow) ; poor growth (Kelley) . 



Poor growth in liquid media; added col- 

 loids result in the growth of long filaments. 

 The organism survives for long periods in 

 liquid media. 



Aerobic. 



Not known to be pathogenic. 



Source: Isolated from 20 to 30 per cent 

 of samples of fresh cow dung. Isolated at 

 least 20 times in Moscow (U.R.S.S.) and 

 its vicinity by Peshkoff. Isolated and culti- 



