Cellulomonas

Abstract

Cel.lu.lo.mo'nas. N.L. n. cellulosum cellulose; L. fem. n. monas a unit, monad; N.L. fem. n. Cellulomonas cellulose monad.

Actinobacteria / Actinobacteria / Micrococcales / Cellulomonadaceae / Cellulomonas

In young cultures, slender, irregular rods ∼∼0.3–0.7 µm × ∼1.0–4.0 µm or more which may be straight, angular, or slightly curved; some of the rods are arranged at an angle to each other giving V formations. Occasional cells may show primary branching. A mycelium is produced by one species. Cultures a week or more old usually contain mainly short rods, but a small proportion of the cells may be coccoid. Nonsporeforming. Gram-stain-positive, but the cells are very readily decolorized. Not acid fast. Motile by one (usually polar or subpolar) or a few lateral flagella, or nonmotile. The cell-wall peptidoglycan contains ornithine; dicarboxylic acids are either glutamic acid or aspartic acid. The major isoprenoid quinones are tetrahydrogenated quinones with nine isoprene units [MK-9(H₄)]. Aerobic; most strains also capable of anaerobic growth as stab cultures. Optimum temperature ∼30°C. Growth moderate on peptone-yeast extract media at neutral pH giving opaque, usually convex, white, yellowish, or yellow colonies. Chemoorganotrophic: metabolism primarily respiratory, but also fermentative; most strains produce acid from glucose both aerobically and anaerobically. Most strains are cellulolytic and reduce nitrate. Phylogenetically a member of the order Micrococcales.

DNA G+C content (mol%): 68.5–76.

Type species: Cellulomonas flavigena (Kellerman and McBeth 1912) Bergey, Harrison, Breed, Hammer and Huntoon 1923, 165 (Bacillus flavigena Kellerman and McBeth 1912, 488).