User:Joh19094/Beggiatoa

Morphology and motility
Beggiatoa spp. can be divided into three morphological categories[] (with some exceptions):


 * 1) Freshwater strains, characterized by narrow filaments with no vacuoles;
 * 2) Narrow marine strains, without vacuoles (filaments' diameter of about 4.4 µm);
 * 3) Larger marine strains, with vacuoles for nitrate storing (filaments' diameter vary between 5 and 140 µm)

Narrow filaments are usually composed of cylindrical cells whose length is about 1.5 to 8 times their thickness; in wider filaments, cells are instead disk-shaped with cell lengths from 0.10 to 0.90 times their cell width. In all of the cultured strains the terminal cells of the filaments appear rounded.[]

Although they are Gram-negative bacteria, Beggiatoa show unusual cell-wall and membrane organization. A variable number of further membranes that cover the peptidoglycan layer are sometimes present. Their presence may be due to the harsh conditions in which some of these organisms live. Intracellular granules can also be covered by membranous structures. In addition to sulfur granules, Beggiatoa cells often contain granules of polyhydroxybutyrate and polyphosphate. Large marine vacuolated Beggiatoa commonly have cells with a narrow cytoplasm surrounding a large central vacuole used to store nitrate.[3][15]

Beggiatoa move via gliding motility, using the excretion of mucus.[16] The exact mechanisms of this gliding motility are unknown.[17] In the species Beggiatoa alba, this trail of mucus is composed of mannose and glucose, two types of neutral polysaccharide. String-like structures on the outer membrane and trans-peptidoglycan channels have been observed on the surface layer, which also may play a role.[15][17] Beggiatoa gliding motility is induced via chemotaxis, which allows filaments to direct themselves away from high oxygen, sulfide, and light levels.[15] Beggiatoa filaments reverse their gliding direction to reach more suitable conditions for their metabolism. Long filaments moving in opposite directions may split in two by killing an intermediate cell, referred to as a necrida, which then cuts off communication and coordinated movement between the two segments.[15]