Cross Index	Serpens
SuperSet	Prokaryote, Eubacteria Gram-Negative Aerobic/ Microaerophilic Rods and Cocci
Compare	Acetobacter, Acidiphilium, Acidomonas methanolica, Acidothermus cellulolyticus, Acidovorax, Acinetobacter, Afipia, Agrobacterium, Agromonas oligotrophica, Alcaligenes, Alteromonas, Aminobacter, Aquaspirillum, Azomonas, Azorhizobium caulinodans, Azotobacter, Bacteroides, Beijerinckia, Bordetella, Bradyrhizobium japonicum, Brucella, Chromohalobacter marismortui, Chryseomonas luteola, Comamonas, Cupriavidus necator, Deleya, Derxia gummosa, Ensifer adherans, Erythrobacter longus, Flavimonas oryzihabitans, Flavobacterium, Francisella, Frateuria aurantica, Gluconobacter, Halomonas, Hydrogenophaga, Janthinobacterium lividum, Kingella, Lampropedia hyalina, Legionella, Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus, Marinomonas, Mesophilobacter marinus, Methylobacillus glycogenes, Methylobacterium, Methylococcus, Methylomonas, Methylophaga, Methylophilus, Methylovorus glucosotrophus, Moraxella, Morococcus cerebrosus, Neisseriaceae, Neisseria, Oceanospirillum, Ochrobactrum anthropi, Oligella, Paracoccus, Phenylobacterium immobile, Phyllobacterium, Pseudomonas, Psychrobacter immobilis, Rhizobacter daucus, Rhizobium, Rhizomonas suberifaciens, Rochalimaea, Roseobacter, Rugomonas rubra, Serpens, Sinorhizobium, Sphingobacterium, Taylorella equigenitalis, Thermoleophilum, Thermomicrobium, Thermus, Variovorax paradoxus, Volcaniella eurhalina, Weeksella, Wolinella, Xanthobacter, Xanthomonas, Xyella fastidiosa, Xylophilus ampelinus, Zoogloea ramigera
Contrast	Archaea
Subset

 

Morphology

Serpens

CELLULAR

Staining	Gram-negative
Morphology	Rod-shaped cells, 0.3-0.4 um wide by 8-12 um long. Occur singly or in pairs. Cysts or coccoid bodies not formed, but cells in the stationary phase of growth are longer (16-25 um) and often possess blebs or spherical protuberances..
Motility	Extremely flexible and capable of serpentine-like motility in agar gels. Possess bipolar tufts of 4-10 flagella and also a few lateral flagella.
Specialized structures	Poly-B-hydroxybutyrate or other internal granules not formed

Division

COLONIAL

Solid surface

On media containing 1.8-2.0% agar, colonies are cream coloured, round, 3-6 mm in diameter, and have a filamentous edge. On media with less than 1.5% agar, only subsurface spreading colonies occur..

Liquid

 

Growth Parameters

Serpens

PHYSIOLOGICAL

Tropism	Chemoorganotrophic. Lactate is the only effective carbon and energy source, although very slight growth occurs with acetate or a-ketoglutarate.
Oxygen	Have a strictly respiratory type of metabolism with oxygen as the sole electron acceptor. Grow aerobically but prefer oxygen concentrations less than that of an air atmosphere
pH
Temperature	Optimum temperature, 28-30`C.
Requirements	Carbohydrates, fatty acids and sugar alcohols are not catabolized. Casein hydrolysate, peptone, yeast extract and, for most strains, ammonium chloride can serve as nitrogen sources; nitrates and nitrites are not used. Vitamins are stimulatory but not required
Products
Enzymes	Catalase- and oxidase-positive
Unique features	.

ENVIRONMENTAL

Habitat	Found in the sediments of eutrophic freshwater ponds
Lifestyle
Pathogenicity

Distribution

 

Genome

Serpens

G+C Mol %

66

 

Reference

Serpens

First citation	Hespell ,R.B. (1977) Serpens flexibilis gen. nov., sp. nov., and unusually flexible lactate oxidizing bacterium IJSB 27:371-381
The Prokaryotes	p
Bergey's Systematatic	p 373 R. B. Hespell
Bergey's Determinative	p 96

References