How do spirochetes differ?

Spirochetes can be distinguished from other flagellated bacteria by their long, thin, spiral (or wavy) cell bodies and endoflagella that reside within the periplasmic space, designated as periplasmic flagella (PFs).

What are the distinguishing characteristics between the bacteria cell and the spirochetes?

Spirochetes are gram-negative, motile, spiral bacteria, from 3 to 500 m (1 m = 0.001 mm) long. Spirochetes are unique in that they have endocellular flagella (axial fibrils, or axial filaments), which number between 2 and more than 100 per organism, depending upon the species.

How spirochetes differ from other types of bacteria?

Spirochaetes are chemoheterotrophic in nature, with lengths between 3 and 500 μm and diameters around 0.09 to at least 3 μm. Spirochaetes are distinguished from other bacterial phyla by the location of their flagella, called endoflagella which are sometimes called axial filaments.

Is Spirillum a spirochete?

Five cases of IE due to Spirillum minor, a spirochete, have been reported. This organism is widely distributed in nature, especially in fresh or salt water with organic debris.

What is the difference between spirilla and spirochetes quizlet?

Spirochetes are more flexible, spiral shaped structures, spirilla are more rigid spiral shaped structures. Spirochetes have a unique internal flagella arrangement, spirilla have one or more flagella at one or both the ends.

Do spirilla have axial filaments?

Spirochetes and Endoflagella These are bundled together to form an axial filament. The axial filaments wrap around the cell body, connect both ends of the cell, and embed in the outer membrane. Spirilla-shaped bacteria do not have endoflagella; their flagella are external and only connected to one end of the cell.

Is spirillum Gram positive or negative?

Spirillum is microbiologically characterized as a gram-negative, motile helical cell with tufts of whiplike flagella at each end. The helix of the largest spirillum, S. volutans, is 5 to 8 μm (micrometres; 1 μm = 10-6 metre) across by 60 μm long.

What does spirillum mean in biology?

Spirillum, genus of spiral-shaped bacteria of the family Spirillaceae, aquatic except for one species (S. minus) that causes a type of rat-bite fever in man. The term spirillum is used generally for any of the corkscrew-like species.

What is the shape of Spirilla bacteria?

Bacteria are classified according to their shape, or morphology. Spherical bacteria are known as cocci, rod-shaped bacteria are bacilli, and spiral-shaped bacteria are spirilla.

What do you mean by spirilla?

Definition of spirillum : any of a genus (Spirillum) of curved elongated motile bacteria having tufts of flagella at both poles broadly : a spiral filamentous bacterium (such as a spirochete)

What is LPS quizlet?

LPS (lipopolysaccharide) A molecule consisting of lipids and polysaccharide moieties that is a major component of the cell wall of gram negative bacteria.

What characteristics do archaea have that differ from bacteria?

Similar to bacteria, archaea do not have interior membranes but both have a cell wall and use flagella to swim. Archaea differ in the fact that their cell wall does not contain peptidoglycan and cell membrane uses ether linked lipids as opposed to ester linked lipids in bacteria.

What is the difference between spiralspirilla and spirochetes?

Spirilla are spiral-shaped bacteria having a rigid cell wall that utilize polar flagella for its locomotion. Spirochetes are spiral-shaped bacteria having a flexible cell wall and possess axial filaments for its motility. Rigid cell wall is possessed by spirilla. Flexible cell wall is possessed by spirochetes.

How many axial filaments are there in a spirochete?

Each spirochete may contain up to 100 axial filaments where the lowest would be two axial filaments per organism. The significance of the axial filaments is its position. The axial filaments, unlike flagella, run between the inner and the outer membrane of the spirochete. Therefore, the axial filaments arise from the periplasmic surface.

How many types of spiral-shaped bacteria are there?

Based on the shape, there are two main genera that belong to the spiral-shaped bacteria namely Spirilla and Spirochetes. Spirilla are spiral-shaped bacteria that have a rigid cell wall and utilize polar flagella for its locomotion. Spirochetes are spiral-shaped bacteria that have a flexible cell wall and possess axial filaments for its motility.

What is the cytoplasmic structure of spirochete?

Some species of spirochetes contain bundles of fibrils in the cytoplasm, these cytoplasmic fibrils are observed in response to different stress conditions in spirochetes. Most Spirochetes are anaerobic and they reproduce by binary fission, which is an asexual mode of reproduction commonly observed in Bacteria.