Characterization of two Metabacterium sp. from the gut of rodents. 1. Morphology and histochemical examination of a new Metabacterium sp. from the gut of the European hamster (Cricetus cricetus)

A new giant Gram-negative non-cultivatable symbiotic endospore-forming bacterium was found in the gut of the European hamster. This "Metabacterium" sp., provisionally named "Metabacterium criceti", sp. n., has a length of approximately 20 microns and thickness of 4 microns. It forms 1 to 2 cylindrical endospores, approximately 9 microns long and 1.4 microns thick. TEM-micrographs show a cell wall structure characteristic of Gram-negative bacteria. Vegetative cells are filled with granules 0.3 micron in diameter which resemble starch granules. The reproduction occurs with binary fission and by formation of two endospores. Of thirteen biochemical components sought, four, i.e. glycogen, triacylglycerols, peroxidase and alkaline phosphatase, were not found. Starch, acid mucosubstances, DNA, RNA, lipids, proteins, adenosine triphosphatase and acid phosphatase were found in different patterns, depending on the developmental stage of the bacterium. In the vegetative cell stage all these components, with the exception of starch, were found. In the endospore-bearing cell stage, only the starch-like cell component granules could be detected. In free endospores only DNA, RNA and acid phosphatase were found. Some of the components, i.e. DNA, lipids, starch-like granules, were linked to certain cell substructures, the distribution of others, viz. polysaccharides, RNA, adenosine triphosphatase and proteins was diffuse. The lipids, found only in vegetative cells, were associated with the cell wall.