Capnocytophaga: New genus of Gram-negative gliding bacteria. II. Morphology and ultrastructure

Gram-negative, anaerobic gliding bacteria were isolated from normal supragingival plaque and from periodontal lesions. Isolates could be divided into two size classes: small 2.4–4.2 m×0.38–0.5 m and large 4.8–5.8 m×0.42–0.6 m cells. The outer membrane was either loose-fitting and wavy, or taut, and of variable thickness. An electron-dense fuzz was discernible on several of the isolates. The periplasmic region was of variable electron-density. The genus Capnocytophaga has been proposed for these organisms based on morphological and cultural characteristics.     

Characteristics of various morphological and biological properties of bacteria of the genus Proteus

The stable O-form of Proteus has been found to differ from the initial H-form in the absence of flagellae or in a few weakly developed flagellae, in decreased capacity for agglutination with polyvalent and typing sera and in virulence for laboratory animals. As revealed in this study, the conversion of the H-form of Proteus into the stable O-form leads to the loss of resistance to streptomycin, chloramphenicol, tetracycline, monomycin, ampicillin and neomycin.     

Comparative pollen morphology and ultrastructure of the Callitrichaceae

The Callitrichaceae are an aquatic family of dicots that include the single, geographically cosmopolitan genus Callitriche. Callitriche contains 40-50 terrestrial, amphibious, and obligately submersed species, and it is the only known genus in the plant kingdom with co-occurring aerial and hydrophilous pollination syndromes. Pollen morphology and ultrastructure were described for 13 Callitriche species using scanning electron and transmission electron microscopy. Representative taxa of each growth form were examined; these included three terrestrial species (C. deflexa, C. peploides, and C. nuttallii), nine amphibious species (C. brutia, C. cophocarpa, C. cophocarpa-stagnalis hybrid, C. cribrosa, C. hamulata, C. heterophylla var. heterophylla, C. lusitanica, C. marginata, and C. trochlearis), and one obligately submersed species (C. truncata). Of the amphibious taxa, C. heterophylla var. heterophylla and C. trochlearis had internal geitonogamy, a type of internal self-fertilization. Pollen from all taxa was spheroidal, small, intectate, and lacked well-defined apertures. Taxa primarily differed with respect to exine thickness, surface ornamentation, and the presence or absence of aperture-like regions. The pollen of terrestrial species, as well as that of C. marginata, had well-developed exines with thick sculptured and basal layers. In general, amphibious taxa produced pollen with distinct, but thinner, exines than that of terrestrial taxa. Pollen of the amphibious taxa with internal geitonogamy had a thicker basal layer than species without internal geitonogamy, whereas the overall exine was reduced in C. hamulata and absent in C. brutia and C. lusitanica. Pollen of the obligately submersed C. truncata also lacked an exine. These palynological data were correlated with growth habits and related pollination biologies, as well as with phylogenetic interpretations of Callitrichaceae. Exine reduction or loss has evolved at least twice in the family, and it is associated with aneuploid reduction in chromosome number.     

Characteristics of plasmid pBS271 controlling epsilon-caprolactam degradation by bacteria in the genus Pseudomonas

Conjugative plasmids control the ability of five Pseudomonas strains isolated from the rectifiers of chemical plants to grow on epsilon-caprolactam as a sole carbon and nitrogen source. All the plasmids have a high molecular mass of their DNA (ca. 300 MDa) and control epsilon-caprolactam degradation at least to succinate. One of the plasmids (pBS271) belongs to the incompatibility group P-2 and suppresses the growth of a broad spectrum of temperate and virulent P. aeruginosa bacteriophages as well as that of some P. putida bacteriophages.     

Plastid division and morphology in the genus Peperomia

We have investigated several factors determining plastid size and number in Peperomia, a genus in the Piperaceae family whose species naturally display great interspecific variation in chloroplast size and number per cell. Using microscopic techniques, we show that chloroplast size and number are differently regulated in the palisade parenchyma and the spongy parenchyma, suggesting that chloroplast division in these cell types is controlled in different ways. Microscopic studies of iodine-stained root cells revealed a correlation between amyloplast size in root cells and chloroplast size in palisade parenchyma cells. However, despite substantial variation in chloroplast number in leaf mesophyll cells, amyloplast number in root cells was very similar in all species. The results suggest that organelle size and number are regulated in a tissue-specific manner rather than in dependency on the plastid type. We also demonstrate that plastid size determines the size but not the number of starch grains in root amyloplasts.     

Characteristics of bacteria in the genus Proteus isolated from patients with sporadic and group intestinal diseases

The biochemical and biological properties of 148 Proteus strains isolated from patients both in sporadic intestinal infections and in a case of group infection in children's hospital was studied. The study revealed that the etiological factor of the group infection was P. mirabilis belonging to rare serovar 48:2. Proteus organisms isolated in sporadic infections belonged to a great number of serovars. No relationship between the isolated serovar and the nosological form of the intestinal disease was established. Among the Proteus strains under study, 82 strains showed atypical biochemical properties in 1 test or more. No correlation between the clinical diagnosis and the occurrence of atypical strains was established.     

Pollen morphology of the genus Rubus from China

Pollen morphology of 103 species belonging to twenty-three subsections of seven sections of Rubus L. was examined with SEM. The pollen grains are usually 3-colporate, spheroidal, subspheroidal, prolate and perprolate, though occasionally rhombic and hexagonal, 16.0~38.0 μm × 12.0~30.0 μum in size. The exine ornamentation can be divided into rugulate, striate, cerebroid and perforate-reticulate types, which include 11 subtypes: rugulate-subpsilate, rugulate-striate, rugulate-perforate, striate, striate-perforate, striate-reticulate, cerebroid, cerebroid-perforate, perforate, perforate-reticulate and reticulate. The pollen morphology is of some significance for a better classification of the genus Rubus, but seems to be of little help for a better understanding of thephylogeny of the genus.     

中国悬钩子属花粉形态观察

通过扫描电镜观察了中国悬钩子属7组23亚组共103个种的花粉形态。本属花粉为圆球形、近 球形、长球形和超长球形,少数为菱形和六边形,具三孔沟,大小多为16.0～38.Oμm×12.0～30.0μm,外壁纹饰可分为皱波型、条纹型、脑纹型和穿孔网型等类型,进而可分为皱波-近光滑状、皱波-条纹状、皱波-穿孔状、条纹状、条纹-穿孔状、条纹-网状、脑纹状、脑纹-穿孔状、穿孔状、穿孔-网状及网状等11个亚型。分析结果认为,悬钩子属的花粉形态特征对该属种的区分有一定的参考价值,但要合理地阐释其系统发育意义,仍需积累更多的信息。