Azotobacter salinestris
| Azotobacter salinestris | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Bacteria |
| Phylum: | Proteobacteria |
| Class: | Gammaproteobacteria |
| Order: | Pseudomonadales |
| Family: | Pseudomonadaceae/Azotobacteraceae |
| Genus: | Azotobacter |
| Species: | Azotobacter salinestris |
| Binomial name | |
|
Azotobacter salinestris Page and Shivprasad, 1991 |
|
Azotobacter salinestris is a Gram-negative, nitrogen-fixing bacterium; its specific name, salinestris, comes from the Latin words salinus meaning saline and estris which means "living in". It can be found living in soil or marine habitats as single cells or in chains of six to eight cells. This organism is motile at younger stages, but loses its flagella at older stages. This species is known for its potential use in bioremediation.
William J. Page and Shailaja Shivprasad isolated A. salinestris from saline soils. The colonies used for their study were first taken from air-dried surface soil from Alberta, Canada. The soil was inoculated into a Burk nitrogen-free mineral-salt medium, which contained 1% glucose and 0.25 micrograms of copper chloride per milliliter of solution. The medium was incubated at 30 °C and stored at 4 °C. Colony formation was noted after 2–3 days of incubation. The same soil samples were also used to inoculate slant cultures, which were stored at room temperature.A. salinestris was found to lose in the slant cultures when stored at 4 °C. Through these cultures and characterization tests, A. salinestris was found to share many of the general characteristics specific to the species Azotobacter. Originally, A. salinestris colonies were classified as Azotobacter chroococcum, but were later identified as a separate species based on their salt-dependent growth.
Azotobacter salinestris is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped organism. This organism's cells are about 2 x 4 μm in size when they are 18 hours old and can grow up to 5 μm in diameter. Older cells can also form cysts.A. salinestris colonies appear to be brown-black in color because they produce water-soluble catechol melanin.
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