Cross Index	Spirochaeta
SuperSet	Prokaryote, Eubacteria Spirochaetacae
Compare	Borrelia, Brachyspia aalborgi, Cristispira pectinis, L eptonema illini, Leptospira, Serpulina Spirochaeta, Treponema, Genera of Insect Gut Spirochetes
Contrast	Archaea
Subset

 

Morphology

Spirochaeta

CELLULAR

Staining	Gram negative
Morphology	Helical cells 0.2-0.75 um in diameter and 5-250 um in length.. Under unfavourable conditions spherical cells or structures 0.5-2.0 um (occasionally up to 10 um) in diameter are formed
Motility	Cells locomote when suspended in liquids and crawl or creep when in contact with solid surfaces.
Specialized structures	All species have 2 periplasmic flagella/cell except Spirochaeta plicatilis, which has many periplasmic flagella

Division

COLONIAL

Solid surface

Liquid

 

Growth Parameters

Spirochaeta

PHYSIOLOGICAL

Oxygen	Obligately anaerobic or facultatively anaerobic.
pH
Temperature	25-40`C.
Requires	Chemoorganotrophic, using a variety of casrbohydrates as carbon and energy sources.
Products	Under aerobic growth conditions the facultatively anaerobic species usually produce carotenoid pigments that give a yellow, yellow-orange or red colouration to colonies. The main products of anaerobic carbohydrate metabolism are ethanol, acetate, CO2 and acetate
Enzymes
Unique features

ENVIRONMENTAL

Habitat	Indigenous to aquatic environments such as the sediments, mud and water of ponds, marshes, swamps, lakes and rivers. Occur commonly in H2S- containing environments. Present in freshwater and marine environments.
Lifestyle	Free living.
Pathogenicity	None reported to be pathogenic

Distribution

 

Genome

Spirochaeta

G+C Mol %

51-65 (Bd).

 

Reference

Spirochaeta

First citation	Ehrenberg , C.G.(1835) Dritter Beitrag zur Erkenntniss grosser Organisation in der Richtung des Kleinsten Raumes. Abh. Preuss. Akad. Wiss Phys. Kl. Berlin aus den Jahre 1833-1835, pp 143-336
Previous names
The Prokaryotes	P
Bergey's Systematatic	p 39 E. Canale-Parola
Bergey's Determinative	p 30

References