Herpetosiphon

The cells of Herpetosiphon are unbranched, flexible, sheathed rod-shaped or filamentous cells, 0.7-1.5x5-150 microns or more (up to several millimeters) in size. No dormant phase reported. The unsheathed segments of the bacteria can glide. Herpetosiphon is a Gram-negative bacterium.

Herpetosiphon's organic energy nutrition is for respiratory metabolism, using molecular oxygen as the final electron acceptor. The bacteria cannot utilize agar, alginic acid and chitin, but can hydrolyze cellulose, carboxymethylcellulose and starch. All strains did not produce ammonia, indole or H2S except H. geysericola which was not assayed. In addition, the bacteria were also unable to reduce nitrate to nitrite. The cells have yellow or orange carotenoid pigments. Herpetosiphon is a strictly aerobic bacteria. The optimum pH is about 7.

Herpetosiphon Culture Service

Herpetosiphon aurantiacus

The cells of Herpetosiphon aurantiacus have unbranched, flexible, usually long sheathed filaments. Bacterial cell size is 1.0-1.5x5--10 μm, and the length of the filaments may exceed 500 μm.

Figure 1. Scanning electron micrograph of a multicellular filament of H. aurantiacus. (Kiss H, et al.;2011)

The bacteria do not hydrolyze cellulose, but can hydrolyze starch. The bacteria can degrade the crystalline suspension of tyrosine and form a reddish-brown pigment. Growth on complex medium has only been reported.

Herpetosiphon geysericola

The cells of Herpetosiphon geysericola are flexible, sheathed rods or filaments. Bacterial cell size is 0.5 x 10-15 microns or longer. The bacteria can digest cellulose, carboxymethylcellulose and starch.

Herpetosiphon geysericola is resistant to high temperatures; can live in hot springs at 60°-80°C and is resistant to pH 8-9 (in nature).

Herpetosiphon cohaerens

The cells of Herpetosiphon cohaerens are unbranched, flexible rods or filaments, 0.7 μm x 60-150 μm or more in size.

The bacteria do not act on fiber cords or starch, nor do they depolymerize carboxymethyl cellulose. Glucose and sucrose can promote the growth of this bacteria, while acetate, galactose, glycerol and lactate do not. Tryptone or glutamate can be used as the only source of nitrogen, while nitrate cannot be the only source of nitrogen. Although it can coagulate and reduce litmus milk, it does not digest the formed curd and does not produce acid. Cell aggregates are orange, and the hexane extract absorbs light the most at 471μm, possibly due to the presence of the carotenoid humaxanthin. Growth requires seawater, which ranges from one-half to twice the ionic strength.

Herpetosiphon persicus

The cells of Herpetosiphon persicus are unbranched, flexible sheathed rods or filaments, 0.7μm (1.0μm including the sheath) x 30-150μm in size.

The bacteria do not act on cellulose or starch, nor do they depolymerize carboxymethylcellulose. Glucose is a suitable carbon source for the bacteria. Galactose and sucrose also promoted the growth of the bacteria, but acetate, glycerol and lactate did not. Tryptone, glutamate or nitrate can be used as the sole nitrogen source. The bacteria coagulate and reduce litmus milk, but do not produce acid and do not digest the curd. Herpetosiphon persicus does not degrade tyrosine crystal suspensions and dihydroxyphenylalanine. During cultivation, no growth factors are required. Cell aggregates are orange due to the presence of the carotenoid humaxanthin, and their hexane extract absorbs light the most at 471 microns.

Growth requires seawater, which ranges from one-half to twice the ionic strength.

Herpetosiphon nigricans

The cells of Herpetosiphon nigricans are unbranched, flexible sheathed rods or filaments, 0.5μm (1.0μm including the sheath) x 5-50μm in size. The bacteria do not act on cellulose, starch and carboxymethylcellulose. Glucose is a suitable carbon source. Galactose and sucrose also promoted growth, but acetate, glycerol, and lactate did not. Casein hydrolysate, glutamate or nitrate can be used as the sole nitrogen source. The bacteria coagulate and digest litmus milk, but do not produce acid. Herpetosiphon nigricans can degrade tyrosine crystal suspensions and form a pigment product, but not dihydroxybenzoic acid. During cultivation, there is no requirement for auxin. Cell aggregates were yellow, and the extract in hexane had the highest light absorption at 450 microns. Growth requires seawater, which ranges from one-half to twice the ionic strength.

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The culture of Herpetosiphon requires specific formulations of growth media for use in cloning, plasmid DNA preparation, and protein expression. Creative Biogene offers a selection of bacterial growth media and custom services for your specific application. If you are interested in our microbial anaerobic and aerobic culture platform, please contact us for more details.