| Cross Index | Cytophaga |
| SuperSet | Prokaryote, Eubacteria Gliding Bacteria |
| Compare | Cytophagales, Beggiatoales Single
Celled, rod shaped Capnocytophaga,
Chitinophaga
pinensis , Cytophaga,
Flexibacter,
Flexithrix dorotheae,
Lysobacter,
Microscilla,
Sporocytophaga
myxococcoides, Thermomena, |
| Contrast | Archaea |
| Subset |
| Morphology | Cytophaga |
| CELLULAR |
| Staining | Gram-negative |
| Morphology | Very short to moderately long rods, 0.3-0.8 x 1.5-15 um, only rarely longer, with rounded or slightly tapered ends. The longer rods are flexible. |
| Motility | Motile by gliding |
| Specialized structures | Resting stages not known |
| Division |
| COLONIAL |
| Solid surface | On solid media with a low nutrient content (eg. below 0.1% peptone), the colonies are spreading swarms, sometimes penetrating the agar, often very delicate and occasionally with a reddish or greenish iridescence. On substrates with a higher nutrient content (eg. above 0.3% peptone), the colonies usually become compact, often convex, with a smooth or wavy edge, sometimes sunken into the agar. Cell mass usually more or less intensely pigmented, yellow, orange or red, due to cell-bound carotenoids, flexirubin type pigments, or both. When covered with alkali (eg. 20% KOH solution; flexirubin reaction), colonies may reversibly change their colour from yellow to purple- or red- brown. Unpigmented species or strains also occur. |
| Liquid |
| Growth Parameters | Cytophaga |
| PHYSIOLOGICAL |
| Tropism | Chemoorganotrophs |
| Oxygen | Strict aerobes or facultative anaerobes. Some may use NO3- as terminal electron acceptor Metabolism respiratory or fermentative |
| pH | Optimum pH: around 7. |
| Temperature | Optimum temperature: 20-35`C. |
| Requirements | |
| Products | In fermentation, acetate, propionate and succinate may be produced. Organic acids may, however, also arise during growth of strictly aerobic strains, particularly on sugar-containing media. All decompose one or several kinds of organic macromolecules, mainly various proteins and poly- saccharides, including cellulose, agar, chitin, pectin and strach. |
| Enzymes | |
| Unique features |
| ENVIRONMENTAL |
| Habitat | Organisms common in soil, decomposing organic matter, freshwater and marine habitats |
| Lifestyle | |
| Pathogenicity |
| Distribution |
| Genome | Cytophaga |
| G+C Mol % | 30-45 |
| the mol% G + C of many strains occurring around 35 |
| Reference | Cytophaga |
| First citation | Winogradsky,S. 1929. Etudes sur la microbiologie du sol. Sur la degradation de la cellulose dans le sol. Ann. Inst. Pasteur(Paris) 43:549-633 |
| The Prokaryotes | |
| Bergey's Systematatic | p 2015 H. Reichenbach |
| Bergey's Determinative | p 486 |
| References |