890 



ORDER VIII. MYXOBACTERALES 



angiden, Geb. Borntraeger, Leipzig, 1924, 

 89.) 



dis.ci.for'mis. Gr. noun discus a disc; L. 

 noun forma form; M.L. adj. disciformis 

 disc-shaped. 



Vegetative cells: Rods 0.5 to 0.6 by 2.0 

 to 3.0 microns. 



Fruiting bodies: Cj^sts disc-shaped, 

 crowded, sessile, attached by a more or less 

 ragged, scar-like insertion or in masses. 

 Cysts yellowish when young, when old dark 

 orange -yellow, about 10 by 35 microns. Cyst 

 wall distinct, thin, becoming very slightly 

 wrinkled. Microcysts irregularly spherical, 

 embedded in viscous slime, difficult to see 

 in the ripe cyst. 



Source: Isolated from the dung of musk- 

 rat and deer from Massachusetts and New 

 Hampshire. 



Habitat: Found on decaying organic mat- 

 ter in soil and in the dung of various ani- 

 mals. Rare in Polish soils according to Krze- 

 mieniewski (Acta Soc. Bot. Poloniae, 6, 

 1927). 



Illustrations: Thaxter (op. cit., 1904, PI. 

 27, Figs. 19-21) and Krzemieniewski (op. 

 cit., 4, 1926, PI. II, Figs. 21 and 22). 



2. Angiococcus cellulosum Mishustin, 

 1938. (Microbiologia, 7, 1938, 427.) 



cel.lu.lo'sum. M.L. noun cellulosum cellu- 

 lose. 



Vegetative cells: 0.4 to 0.5 by 1.5 to 2.0 

 microns. 



Fruiting body: Regularly rounded (less 

 frequently extended or angular), 20 to 150 

 microns in diameter; yellow or pink in color 

 to drabbish when old. Encysted cells sur- 

 rounded by a colorless cyst wall or envelope. 

 Usually 1 to 3 short stalks, or cystophores, 

 up to 10 microns high. Within the outer wall 

 are numerous cysts containing microcysts. 

 Cysts have regularly rounded form; unpig- 

 mented to yellow; 5 to 15 microns in diame- 

 ter, average 6 microns. Number of cysts in 

 fruiting body increases with age. Size of 

 microcysts not given. 



Vegetative colony: Fairly rapid growth 

 on cellulo.se with silica gel. Colony has a 

 yellowish cast. Reaches diameter of 1.5 to 

 2.0 cm after 6 days with center yellowish 

 pink and margin tinged light pink. Surface 

 moist. Fruiting bodies more numerous at 

 center but distributed over entire area. 

 Fruiting bodies do not noticeably protrude 

 above the surface of the colony. 



Physiology: Cellulose attacked but not 

 completely destroyed. 



Source: Isolated from soil. 



Habitat : Found on decaying organic mat- 

 ter in soil. 



Genus IV. Sporocytophaga Stanier, 1940. 

 (Jour. Bact., 40, 1940, 629.) 



Spo.ro. cy.to'pha.ga. Gr. noun spora seed; M.L. noun spora a spore; Gr. noun cyfus 

 hollow place, vessel, cell; Gr. v. phagein to devour; M.L. fem.n. Cytophaga generic name; 

 M.L. iem.n. Sporocytophaga the sporing Cytophaga. 



Spherical or ellipsoidal microcysts formed loosely in masses of slime among the vegeta- 

 tive cells. Fruiting bodies absent. 



The type species is Sporocytophaga myxococcoides (Krzemieniewska) Stanier. 



Key to the species of genus Sporocytophaga. 



I. Microcysts spherical. 



A. Does not utilize starch. 



1. Sporocytophaga myxococcoides. 



B. Utilizes starch. 



2. Sporocytophaga congregata. 

 II. Microcysts ellipsoidal. 



3. Sporocytophaga ellipsospora. 



1. Sporocytophaga myxococcoides 



(Krzemieniewska, 1933) Stanier, 1940. (Cy- 

 tophaga myxococcoides Krzemieniewska, 



Arch. f. Mikrobiol., 4, 1933, 400; Stanier, 

 Jour. Bact., 40, 1940, 630.) 



myx.o.coc.co.i'des or myx.o.coc.coi'- 



