| Cross Index | Herpetosiphon |
| SuperSet | Prokaryote, Eubacteria Sheathed heterotrophs and Nonphotosynthetic, Nonfruiting Gliding Bacteria |
| 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. Sheathed heterotrophs Clonothrix fusca Crenothrix polyspora, Haliscomenobacter hydrossis, Leptothrix, Lieskeella bifida Phragmidiothrix multiseptata Sphaerotilus natans , Thioploca, Thiothrix nivea, Herpetosiphon |
| Contrast | Archaea |
| Subset |
| Morphology | Herpetosiphon |
| CELLULAR |
| Staining | Gram-negative |
| Morphology | Unbranched, flexible rods or filaments 0.5-1.5 x 5-150 um or more (to several millimetres), consisting of individual cells 2-3 um long. Often ensheathed, although sheaths may be difficult to visualize |
| Motility | Motile by gliding.. |
| Specialized structures | Filament breakage or cell lysis results in empty ends or spaces (necridia). Resting stages not known |
| Division |
| COLONIAL |
| Solid surface | Produce yellow, red or orange carotenoid pigments. |
| Liquid |
| Growth Parameters | Herpetosiphon |
| PHYSIOLOGICAL |
| Tropism | Chemoorganotrophs. |
| Oxygen | strict aerobe Metabolism is respiratory, with molecular oxygen used as the terminal electron acceptor |
| pH | |
| Temperature | |
| Requirements | Marine forms require seawater for growth |
| Products | |
| Enzymes | Cellulose and chitin may be degraded, carboxymethyl cellulose may be depolymerized, or starch may be hydrolyzed. Gelatin is liquified. Indole, ammonia or H2S is not produced. |
| Unique features |
| ENVIRONMENTAL |
| Habitat | |
| Lifestyle | |
| Pathogenicity |
| Distribution |
| Genome | Herpetosiphon |
| G+C Mol % | 44.9-53.1 (Bd) |
| (Mandel and Lewin 1969) |
| Reference | Herpetosiphon |
| First citation | Holt, J.G. and R.A. Lewen 1968 Herpetosiphon aurantiacus gen et sp. n., a new filamentous gliding organism. J. Bacteriol 95: 2407-2408 |
| The Prokaryotes | |
| Bergey's Systematatic | p 2136 J. G. Holt |
| Bergey's Determinative | p 497 |
| References |