Skip to main content
Journal of Bacteriology logoLink to Journal of Bacteriology
. 1986 Nov;168(2):791–794. doi: 10.1128/jb.168.2.791-794.1986

Colonial heterogeneity of Thiobacillus versutus.

P A Claassen, G J Kortstee, W M Oosterveld-van Vliet, A R van Neerven
PMCID: PMC213553  PMID: 3096960

Abstract

In acetate-limited chemostat cultures started with single-colony cultures of Thiobacillus versutus, a mutant appeared after approximately 85 volume changes. The inhomogeneity of the culture was detected by the development of two different types of colonies on agar plates. When a pure culture of the mutant was grown in a chemostat, parent colonies appeared after almost the same period of time. Electron micrographs of the mutant grown on butyrate showed the presence of fibrils surrounding the cells. The cells of the parent strain were bald when grown under the same conditions. The growth kinetics of the parent and the mutant were investigated in batch cultures with a variety of substrates and were found to be identical. Major differences between the two strains were observed during growth on mannitol; the mutant attained a lower yield and excreted large amounts of extracellular polysaccharides.

Full text

PDF

Images in this article

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. POSTGATE J. R., HUNTER J. R. The survival of starved bacteria. J Gen Microbiol. 1962 Oct;29:233–263. doi: 10.1099/00221287-29-2-233. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. SMOGYI M. Notes on sugar determination. J Biol Chem. 1952 Mar;195(1):19–23. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Strange R. E., Hunter J. R. Substrate-accelerated death' of nitrogen-limited bacteria. J Gen Microbiol. 1966 Aug;44(2):255–262. doi: 10.1099/00221287-44-2-255. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Taylor B. F., Hoare D. S. New facultative Thiobacillus and a reevaluation of the heterotrophic potential of Thiobacillus novellus. J Bacteriol. 1969 Oct;100(1):487–497. doi: 10.1128/jb.100.1.487-497.1969. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Zevenhuizen L. P. Cellular glycogen, beta-1,2,-glucan, poly beta-hydroxybutyric acid and extracellular polysaccharides in fast-growing species of Rhizobium. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek. 1981;47(6):481–497. doi: 10.1007/BF00443236. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Bacteriology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES