Abstract
The extremely halophilic bacteria described in the following two chapters occur in the zones of highest salinity in the Gavish Sabkha (see Chap. 9). When one of us (A. E. Walsby) visited the Gavish Sabkha (together with W. E. Krumbein in April 1979) he was mainly in search of gas-vacuolate halophilic bacteria. Samples of the pink salt and brine slush of the pools of the elevated central parts of the Gavish Sabkha, when investigated microscopically, revealed an exciting new group of bacteria. Floating ethereally among the microorganisms were diaphanous squares with glistening gas vacuoles attached to them. Further inspection revealed that many of the squares had just discernible thickness and were made up of subsidiary squares linked like postage stamps in a sheet. It transpired that each square was a bacterium of unprecedented form. After the first description of these unique bacteria from the Gavish Sabkha (Walsby 1980), W. Stoeckenius (see Chap. 11) and Y. Cohen isolated other bacteria of square shapes which turned out to contain bacteriorhodopsin and to be able to change from the square shape into the normal form of bacteria.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1985 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kessel, M., Cohen, Y., Walsby, A.E. (1985). Structure and Physiology of Square-shaped and Other Halophilic Bacteria from the Gavish Sabkha. In: Friedman, G.M., Krumbein, W.E. (eds) Hypersaline Ecosystems. Ecological Studies, vol 53. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-70290-7_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-70290-7_15
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-70292-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-70290-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive