Growth inhibition activity and bacteriophage and bacteriocinlike particles associated with different species of Clostridium

Abstract

Thirty-four strains corresponding to 16 species of Clostridium were examined for growth inhibition activity and production of phage and bacteriocinlike particles. Twenty-five strains were found to inhibit growth of one or more of the other strains. The widest range of activity corresponded to C. bifermentans 18137 which inhibited growth of 23 strains. Cell-free filtrates of positive cultures were inactive with the exception of the one from C. bifermentans 18137. A wide variety of particles with diverse morphology was observed in lysates of cultures treated with mitomycin C (1 microgram/mL).

Superprecipitation‐Like Phenomenon and Destruction Induced by Adenosine 5′‐Triphosphate in Spirosomes Isolated from Lactobacillus brevis

“…The spirosomes consist of a left-handed helical structure about 6.5 nm in width, 12.5 nm in height and 11 nm in pitch, and its length ranges from 30 to 900 nm with a high frequency of 100 to 200 nm. Similar minute spirals have been observed in different species of Clostridium (15,17), Escherichia coli (6), and three species of Acholeplasma (8). Thus, spirosomes or similar spiral inclusions have been widely found in gram-positive and -negative bacteria.…”

Detection of Fine Spiral Structures (Spirosomes) by Weak Sonication in Some Bacterial Strains

“…Spirosomes were not found in the preparations from L. casei, E. coli, and Clostridium species by our weak sonication method but they were found in the preparations of cell lysates from L. casei and E. coli C as reported by some workers (5,6,9,11). Hence, the possibility that spirosomes exist in other "spirosome-absent" strains listed in Table 1 cannot be denied.…”

“…Ueda and Takagi (11) found similar spiral structures in mitomycin-induced lysates of Clostridium botulinu m type B. Kawata et al (6) found similar particles in the mesosomal fraction obtained from protoplasts of Lactobacillus fermenti and Lactobacillus casei by osmotic disruption and named the particle "spirosome." Since then, spirosomes or similar particles have been observed in both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria (4,5,7,9). However their true origin and function are still obscure.…”

Recent advances in the genetics of the clostridia

“…A variety of bacteriophages, both lytic and lysogenic, have been described in different species of Clostridium [44,45] So far they have played only a very minor role in clostridial genetics, because no instances of transduction have been reported. Bacteriophages CA1 and HM3 of C. acetobutylicure have served as a valuable source of 'homologous' DNA for transfection of C. acetobutylicum protoplasts [32][33][34].…”