| Cross Index | Sphaerotilus natans |
| 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 , Thioploca, Thiothrix nivea, Herpetosiphon |
| Contrast | Archaea |
| Subset |
| Morphology | Sphaerotilus natans |
| CELLULAR |
| Staining | Gram-negative. |
| Morphology | Straight rods, 1.2-2.5 x 2-10 um, usually arranged in single chains within sheaths of uniform width, which may be attached by means of holdfasts to walls of containers, sub-merged plants, stones and other surfaces.! |
| Motility | Single or paired cells released from the sheaths are motile by means of a bundle of subpolar flagella, sometimes so intertwined as to give the appearance of a single large "unit flagellum". |
| Specialized structures | Sheaths usually thin without encrustation by ferric and manganic oxides. They cannot always be easily recognized when completely filled with cells. If parts of the sheaths are vacated by the cells, recognition of the organism cannot be misinterpreted Resting stages are not known. |
| Division |
| COLONIAL |
| Solid surface |
| Liquid |
| Growth Parameters | Sphaerotilus natans |
| PHYSIOLOGICAL |
| Tropism | Chemoorganotrophs; |
| Oxygen | metabolism respiratory; never fermentative. Can grow at very low concentrations of dissolved oxygen (below 0.1 mg/l). |
| pH | Optimum pH: between 6.5 and 7.5 |
| Temperature | Temperature range: 10-37`C; optimum: between 20 and 30`C. |
| Requirements | Alcohols, several organic acids and sugars are used as sources of carbon and energy. Ammonium salts and nitrates may serve as nitrogen source in the presence of vitamin B12 or methionine. Peptone, casamino acids and mixtures of aspartic and glutamic acids, and vitamin B12 or methionine give better results. |
| Products | |
| Enzymes | |
| Unique features |
| ENVIRONMENTAL |
| Habitat | |
| Lifestyle | |
| Pathogenicity |
| Distribution |
| Genome | Sphaerotilus natans |
| G+C Mol % | 70 (Bd) |
| Reference | Sphaerotilus natans |
| First citation | Kutzing, F.T. 1833 Beitrag zur Kenntnis uber die Entstehung unde Metamorphose der niederen vegetalischen Organismen, nebt einer systematischen Zusammensetzung der hierher gehorigen niederen Algenformen. Linnaea 8: 335-387 |
| The Prokaryotes | |
| Bergey's Systematatic | p 1994 E.G. Mulder |
| Bergey's Determinative | p 480 |
| References |