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Cosmopolitan distribution of the large composite microbial mat spirochete, Spirosymplokos deltaeiberiInocula from organic-rich black muds immediately underlying intertidal laminated microbial mats dominated by Microcoleus chthonoplastes yielded large, variable diameter spirochetes. These unusual spirochetes, previously reported only from the Alfacs Peninsula at the delta of the Ebro river in northeast Spain, contain striking arrays of cytoplasmic granules packed into their protoplasmic cylinders. On several occasions, both in summer and winter, the huge spirochetes were recognized in samples from mats growing in the Sippewissett salt marsh at Woods Hole Massachusetts. They were also seen in similar samples from microbial mats at North Pond, Laguna Figueroa, Baja California Norte, Mexico. The identity of these spirochetes was confirmed by electron microscopy: number and disposition of flagella, composite structure, measurements of their distinctive cytoplasmic granules. The granules, larger, more conspicuous and present in addition to ribosomes, are hypothesized to contain ATPases. As culture conditions worsen, these spirochetes retract into membrane-bounded round bodies in which they form refractile inclusions. From morphology and behavior we conclude the North American spirochetes from both Atlantic and Pacific intertidal microbial mats are indistinguishable from those at the delta of the Ebro river. We conclude a cosmopolitan distribution for Spirosymplokos deltaeiberi.
Document ID
20040112665
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Margulis, L.
(University of Massachusetts Amherst 01003-5820, United States)
Navarrete, A.
Sole, M.
Date Acquired
August 21, 2013
Publication Date
March 1, 1998
Publication Information
Publication: International microbiology : the official journal of the Spanish Society for Microbiology
Volume: 1
Issue: 1
ISSN: 1139-6709
Subject Category
Life Sciences (General)
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
NASA Discipline Exobiology
Non-NASA Center

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