The Formation and Development of Large Bodies in Proteus Vulgaris Ox-19 Ii

Abstract

I This investigation was supported by a fellowship granted by the Philadelphia Lager Beer Brewers' Association.

SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE EFFECT OF COLCHICINE UPON SALMONELLA TYPHOSA

“…The development of aberrant branches resulting in "Y"shaped configurations is shown in figure 7. Similar cells have been shown by Zapf (1953), Bergersen (1953), Stempen andHutchinson (1951), Duguid (1948), Mellon (1925), and Gardner (1925) in other bacteria under other conditions. Fusiform cells and "large bodies" were also observed.…”

PROTOPLASTS AND L-TYPE GROWTH OF ESCHERICHIA COLI

“…Stained preparations can be misleading: for example, stages resembling those of figure 1 have been described as zygospores or fusion figures by Mellon (1925) and Klieneberger-Nobel (1950). Direct continuous observations on living material (Stahelin, 1954;Stempen and Hutchinson, 1951) leave no doubt that fusion can occur, but is it de novo or refusion? Published photographs generally show adjacent protoplasts that may have coalesced again before the completion of an earlier fission or budding.…”

LARGE CELL STAGE IN THE GENUS BACILLUS

“…DeLamater and Hunter (1953) associated their formation in B. megaterium with nutritional factors in blood. As with the genus Proteus (Stempen and Hutchinson, 1951), our experience would suggest these cells arise primarily by swelling of normal cells. However, the tendency of bacilli to pair leaves some suggestion of fusion, particularly when associated with the viable count drop.…”

“…Large cells of Escherichia coli are associated with a diploid phase in that species (Lederberg, 1956). Large bodies were reported in cultures of Proteus vulgaris by Stempen and Hutchinson (1951) and shown to arise both from swelling of individual bacilli and fusion of cells. Similar large bodies were reported in luminous bacteria (Johnson and Gray, 1949;Warbasse and Johnson, 1950) and associated with physiological conditions of stress.…”