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MANUAL OF DETERMINATIVE BACTERIOLOGY 



Gelatin stab : Slow liquefaction. 



Agar colonies grow poorly, granular. 

 Deep colonies yellowish-green to dark 

 brown . 



Agar slant : Delicate, transparent 

 growth. 



Potato: Limited growth. 



Volutin present. 



Catalase positive. 



Utilizes malic and succinic acids. 



Grows well on peptone broth. Also 

 utilizes ammonia compounds. 



Optimum temperature, 22° to 27 °C. 



Source : Isolated from putrid materials 

 and liquid manure. 



Habitat : Putrefying liquids. 



8. Spirillum volutans Ehrenberg. 

 (Prototype, Vibrio spirillum Miiller, 

 Animalcula infusoria, 1786; Ehrenberg, 

 Die Infusionstierchen als Volkommene 

 Organismen, 1838.) From M. L. volutin. 



Spirals 1 .5 microns in diameter. Wave 

 length, 13 to 15 microns, width of spiral, 

 4 to 5 microns. The largest of the spirilla. 

 Slightly attenuated ends. Motile, pos- 

 sessing a tuft of ten to fifteen flagella 

 at each pole. Dark granules of volutin 

 in the cytoplasm. Gram-negative. 



Migula (Syst. d. Bakt., 2, 1900, 1025) 

 reports that this species has not been 

 cultivated on artificial media, and that 

 the cultures so described by Kutscher 

 (Ztschr. f. Hyg., 20, 1895, 58) are of a 

 different species which Migula names 

 Spirillum giganteum. Vahle (Cent. f. 

 Bakt., II Abt., 25, 1910, 237) later 

 describes the cultural characters of an 

 organism which he regards as identical 

 with Kutscher 's organism. Giesberger 

 (Inaug. Diss., Delft, 1936, 65) saw what 

 he felt was the true Spirillum volutans 

 but could not cultivate it. 



Optimum temperature 35°C. 



Habitat: Stagnant water. 



9. Spirillum lipoferum Beijerinck. 

 (Azotobacter spirillum Beijerinck, Kon. 

 Akad. Wetensch. Amsterdam, 30, 1923, 

 431 quoted from Giesberger, Inaug. 

 Diss., Delft, 1936, 24; Spirillum lipo- 

 ferum Beijerinck, Cent. f. Bakt., II 

 Abt., 63, 1925, 353; Chromatium lipo- 

 ferum Bergey et al., Manual, 3rd ed., 

 1930, 531.) From Greek, lipos, fat; 

 Latin, fero, to bear. 



Curved cells with one-half to one spiral 

 turn, containing minute fat droplets. 

 These may deform the cells. Motile 

 with lophotrichous flagella. Gram- 

 negative. 



Calcium malate agar colonies: Circu- 

 lar, small, transparent, dry. The malate 

 is oxidized to calcium carbonate. Cells 

 contain fat drops. 



Peptone agar colonies : More abundant 

 development. Cells lack fat drops and 

 are typically spirillum in form. 



Glucose peptone broth : Cells actively 

 motile with large fat drops. 



Fixes atmospheric nitrogen in partially 

 pure cultures, i.e., free from Azotobacter 

 and Clostridium (Beijerinck, loc. cit.). 

 Schroder (Cent. f. Bakt., II Abt., 85, 

 1932, 17) failed to find fixation of nitrogen 

 when she used cultures derived from a 

 single cell. 



Aerobic. 



Optimum temperature 22°C. 



Beijerinck regards this as a transitional 

 form between Spirillum and Azotobacter. 

 Giesberger {loc. cit., p. 64-65) thinks it a 

 Vibrio . 



Habitat: Garden soil. 



Appendix:* The following additional 

 species have been mentioned in the 

 literature. Many are inadequately de- 

 scribed. Some may not belong here. 



* Prepared by Mr. Wm. C. Haynes, New York State Experiment Station, Geneva, 

 New York, Jan., 1939; Revised by Capt. Wm. C. Haynes, Sn. C, Fort Bliss, Texas, 

 .July, 1943. 



