Spirillum | |
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Spirillum | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Bacteria |
Phylum: | Proteobacteria |
Class: | Betaproteobacteria |
Order: | Nitrosomonadales |
Family: | Spirillaceae |
Genus: |
Spirillum Ehrenberg, 1832 emend. Podkopaeva et al., 2009 |
Species | |
Spirillum is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria within family Spirillaceae. There are two species in Spirillum with standing in nomenclature, Spirillum winogradskyi and Spirillum volutans. The taxonomic position of three other species provisionally bearing the Spirillum genus name (Spirillum minus, Spirillum pleomorphum, and Spirillum pulli) is uncertain and these have no standing in nomenclature.
Members of Spirillum are large, elongate, spiral shaped, rigid cells. Some have tufts of flagella at both poles. They are microaerophilic and usually found in stagnant freshwater rich in organic matter.
The bacterium provisionally named Spirillum minus is associated with rat-bite fever.