Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1980 The iologB y of Beggiatoa. William Roy Strohl Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Strohl, William Roy, "The ioB logy of Beggiatoa." (1980). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 3544. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/3544 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This was produced from a copy of a document sent to us for microfilming. 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ZEEB ROAD, ANN ARBOR, Ml 48106 18 BEDFORD ROW, LONDON WC1 R 4EJ, ENGLAND 8106989 STROHL, WILLIAM ROY THE BIOLOGY OF BEGGIATOA The Louisiana State University and Agricultural PH.D. 1980 and Mechanical Col. University Microfilms International300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106 PLEASE NOTE: In all eases this material has been filmed in the best possible way from the available copy. Problems encountered with this document have been identified here with a check mark . 1. Glossy photographs\/ 2. Colored illustrations________ 3. Photographs with dark background________ 4. Illustrations are poor copy _ _ _ _ _ 5. °rint shows through as there is text on bothsides ________of page 6. Indistinct, broken or small print on several pages 7. Tightly bound copy with print lost in________ spine 8. Computer printout pages with indistinct________ print 9. Page(s) _ lacking when material received, and not available from school or author 10. Page(s) _______ seem to be missing in numbering only as text follows 11. Poor carbon copy________ 12. Not original copy, several pages with blurred ____type 13. Appendix pages are poor ________copy 14. Original copy with light ________type 15. Curling and wrinkled pages________ 16. Other Iniversity M o o t m s iternariona! 10 I'M ZE£= RD.. ANN ARBOfi Ml 48106 (313) 761 -4700 THE BIOLOGY OF BEGGIATOA A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Microbiology by William Roy Strohl B. S., Central Michigan University, 1975 August, 1980 ACKNOWLEDGMENT The author wishes to express his sincere appreciation to his major professor, Dr. John M. Larkin, for his advice and assistance during the course of this research, and for his help in the prepar­ ation of this dissertation. The author also wishes to express sincere appreciation to Dr. A. D. Larson, Dr. H. D. Braymer, Dr. H. Glide, Dr. H Reichenbach, Dr. J. M. Shively, Dr. E. Fautz, Leonard A. Hook, Karen S. Howard, Ingeborg Geffers, and Gordon C. Cannon for their invaluble advice and assistance during the course of this investigation. Furthermore, the author wishes to express special thanks to Dr. H. Reichenbach for the use of his laboratory and facilities. The author also gratefully acknowledges the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst and the Gesellschaft fur Biotechnologische Forschung mbH for their funding and for allowing the author to do much of his research while a guest at GBF, Braunshweig, Federal Republic of Germany. The author also expresses sincere gratitude to the members of his examining committee: Dr. M. E. Orlowski, Dr. A. D. Larson, Dr. R. L. Amborski, Dr. E. P. Dunigan, Dr. E. N» Lambremont, and Dr. E. S. Younathan for their constructive criticism of this manuscript. This research was supported by funds from the National Science Foundation, the Office of Sea Grant, Department of Commerce, and the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENT.............................................. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................ iii LIST OF FIGURES.............................................. v LIST OF TABLES .............................................. ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS........................................ xi ABSTRACT ...................................................... xiii PART I. The enumeration, isolation, and charaterization of Beggiatoa from freshwater sediments. ......... 1 Introduction........................................ 2 Materials and Methods .................... ..... 4 R e s u l t s ............................................ 12 Discussion.......................................... 42 PART II. The assimilation and metabolism of CO2 by Beggiatoa alba...................................... 51 Introduction........................................ 52 Materials and Methods ............................ 53 R e s u l t s ............................................ 61 Discussion.............................. 77 PART III.The assimilation and metabolism of acetate by Beggiatoa alba...................................... 82 Introduction. ................................ 83 Materials and Methods .............................. 84 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONT'D) Page R e s u l t s ........................................ 91 Discussion........................................ 104 LITERATURE CITED .......................................... 108 VITA ...................................................... 116 iv LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE Page PART I. 1. Typical appearance of a Beggiatoa fluff ball from an enrichment culture ................................ 28 2. Typical appearance of Beggiatoa from an enrichment culture. The granules consist of sulfur (S) and PHB ( P ) .......... 29 3. Phase micrograph of Beggiatoa from the root zone of S_. altemiflora from a salt marsh. Because of the large diamter (15 ^um) of the trichome, this organism is probably B. mirabilis. Sulfur granules may be seen within the cells .................................. 30 4. Pure culture of Beggiatoa stained to show the PHB (A) and volutin ( B ) .................................... 31 5. Phase micrograph of strain B8GC (group A) growing on the surface of BP agar. Two of the trichomes have formed supercoiled balls, which rotate on the agar and etch the surface. The large rotating (but flat) colony was associated with many strains. Pringsheim (54) referred to the latter colony type as circuitans, or C, type of colony. Bar, 30 ^rai. 32 6. Appearance of Beggiatoa growing on MP medium A. Phase micrograph B. Dark-field micrograph .................. ..... 33 7. Extraction of sulfur from Beggiatoa by pyridine. A. The trichome was prepared as a wet mount, pyridine was added, and a cover slip was sealed over it. The empty cavities in the cells are seen, and a crystal has formed externally B. The trichomes were placed on a slide and dried until they lysed. A drop of pyridine was added, and the crystals formed where the sulfur granules had been. Many non-extracted granules remain (arrow). Bars, 10 y u m .............................. 34 v LIST OF FIGURES (CONT’D) Page 8. Thin sections of strain B15LD grown on MP medium A. A sulfur granule (S), the invaginated cyto­ plasmic membrane (CM), and the sulfur granule membrane (SM) are seen B. A high-magnification micrograph of the sulfur membrane shows that it consists of three elec­ tron-dense layers (arrows). The invagination of the cytoplasmic membrane is apparent (CM). 35 9. Thin section of strain B15LD grown on BP medium. The large inclusions are PHB....................... 37 10. A high magnification of strain B15LD grown on MP medium, showing the various layers of the cell envelope: the cytoplasmic membrane (CM), the peptidoglycan layer