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Toxothrix trichogenes (Chol.) Beger et Bringmann: The organism and its biology

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Abstract

Toxothrix trichogenes (Chol.) Beger et Bringmann was found in iron-containing spring water, in tap water, and in a small forest pond of lower Michigan.

The use of a partially submerged microscope for continuous observation of undisturbed underwater “Aufwuchs” on glass slides resulted in the rediscovery of the actualToxothrix organisms: long, often U-shaped and highly flexible bacterial filaments. Direct observation of their growth and movements on immersed glass slides revealed the production byToxothrix trichomes of several slime strands which were typically twisted. Fan-shaped slime structures and parallel tracks were directly seen to be formed by U-shaped organisms as a result of the forward gliding and rolling of their center portion. Chemical iron deposition onto the individual slime strands of such tracks rendered these rigid and brittle; the iron deposition also proceeded in the absence of living trichomes.

The trichomes disintegrated rapidly and completely during laboratory observations, althoughToxothrix trichomes were kept viable for several months in refrigerated state. Disintegration under the normal light microscope explains their absence from most stranded “sheaths” studied by previous investigators.

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Author notes

  1. J. M. Krul

    Present address: Laboratory of Microbiology, Agricultural University, Wageningen, The Netherlands

  2. J. T. Staley

    Present address: Dept. Environmental Sciences and Engineering, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N.C., USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology and Public Health, Michigan State University, 48823, East Lansing, Michigan, USA

    J. M. Krul, P. Hirsch & J. T. Staley

Authors
  1. J. M. Krul
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  2. P. Hirsch
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  3. J. T. Staley
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Additional information

Agricultural Experiment Station Article No. 4935.

The investigations were supported by an NSF Institutional Grant for Science to J. T. Staley and by the Michigan State University, Agricultural Experiment Station. J. M. Krul acknowledges gratefully a travel grant from the Ministerie van Landbouw en Visserij. We are thankful for the interest in and help with this work by Dr. G. Lauff, Kellogg Biological Station (Hickory Corners, Mich.) and Mr. W. A. Lemmien, MSU Experimental Forest, Augusta, Mich. Dr. G. A. Zavarzin, Moscow, contributedToxothrix samples and helped with his interest and discussions.

MSU Kellogg Biological Station Contribution No. 189

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Krul, J.M., Hirsch, P. & Staley, J.T. Toxothrix trichogenes (Chol.) Beger et Bringmann: The organism and its biology. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 36, 409–420 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02069041

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