| Cross Index | Leptothrix |
| SuperSet | Prokaryote, Eubacteria Sheathed heterotrophs |
| Compare | Herpetosiphon, Thioploca and Thiothrix
nivea which also
have sheaths are a lso included in Nonphotosynthetic,
Nonfruiting Gliding Bacteria in
the non fruiting section. The genus Lyngbya which is one of the cyanobacteria also has
a sheath. Clonothrix fusca Crenothrix polyspora, Haliscomenobacter hydrossis, Leptothrix, Lieskeella bifida Phragmidiothrix multiseptata Sphaerotilus natans , |
| Contrast | Archaea |
| Subset |
| Morphology | Leptothrix |
| CELLULAR |
| Staining | Gram-negative. |
| Morphology | Straight rods, 0.6-1.4 x 1-12 um, occurring in chains within a sheath or free-swimming as single cells, in pairs or, in some species, as motile short chains containing up to 8 cells |
| Motility | Free cells are motile by means of one polar flagellum; one species has a subpolar tuft of several flagella |
| Specialized structures | . One species has well-developed holdfasts. Most species may contain globules of poly-B-hydroxybutyrate as reserve material. Sheaths have a pronounced tendency to become impregnated or covered with ferric and manganic oxides. Resting stages are not known |
| Division |
| COLONIAL |
| Solid surface |
| Liquid |
| Growth Parameters | Leptothrix |
| PHYSIOLOGICAL |
| Tropism | Chemoorganotrophs |
| Oxygen | metabolism respiratory; never fermentative. Growth and manganese oxidation may proceed at low oxygen tensions |
| pH | Optimum pH: between 6.5 and 7.5. |
| Temperature | The temperature range extends from 10 to 35`C, with an optimum temperature for most strains around 25`C. |
| Requirements | Although some species are able to utilize NH4+ and NO3-, most poorly growing strains do not assimilate inorganic nitrogen compounds. A mixture of aspartic and glutamic acids, casamino acids, peptone or other complex nitrogen compounds give better results. Excessive amounts of certain amino acids are inhibitory (Johnson and Stokes, 1965). Unless methionine is supplied, vitamin B12 should be added to the nutrient medium. For some strains, a requirement for biotin and thiamine has been reported (Rouf and Stokes 1964). Adenine and guanine are also recorded in the literature as essential growth factors for some strains (Stokes and Johnson 1965).A number of sugars, including glucose, fructose and sucrose, organic acids, including lactic, malic and B-hydroxybutyric acids, and glycerol are utilized by most Leptothrix species as carbon and energy sources |
| Products | Acetic and citric acids are not or are poorly utilized |
| Enzymes | |
| Unique features | Yield responses of Leptothrix species to consumed organic nutrients are generally considerably lower than those of Sphaerotilus natants. |
| ENVIRONMENTAL |
| Habitat | |
| Lifestyle | |
| Pathogenicity |
| Distribution |
| Genome | Leptothrix |
| G+C Mol % | 69.5-71 |
| (Crombach et al. 1974) |
| Reference | Leptothrix |
| First citation | Kutzing, F.T. 1843. Phycologia Generales, Leipzig |
| The Prokaryotes | |
| Bergey's Systematatic | p 1998 E.G. Mulder |
| Bergey's Determinative | p 478 |
| References |