Dissociation and Re-Aggregation of Multicell-Ensheathed Fragments Responsible for Rapid Production of Massive Clumps of Leptothrix Sheaths.

ABSTRACT: Species of the Fe/Mn-oxidizing bacteria Leptothrix produce tremendous amounts of microtubular, Fe/Mn-encrusted sheaths within a few days in outwells of groundwater that can rapidly clog water systems. To understand this mode of rapid sheath production and define the timescales involved, behaviors of sheath-forming Leptothrix sp. strain OUMS1 were examined using time-lapse video at the initial stage of sheath formation. OUMS1 formed clumps of tangled sheaths. Electron microscopy confirmed the presence of a thin layer of bacterial exopolymer fibrils around catenulate cells (corresponding to the immature sheath). In time-lapse videos, numerous sheath filaments that extended from the periphery of sheath clumps repeatedly fragmented at the apex of the same fragment, the fragments then aggregate

SUBMITTER: Kunoh T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5037351 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature