MORPHOLOGY AND CULTURE CHARACTERISTICS OF PROTEUS VULGARIS (PR. VULGARIS)
MORPHOLOGY OF PROTEUS VULGARIS (PR. VULGARIS)
Shape – Proteus Vulgaris is a short, straight rod shape (bacillus) bacterium.
Size – The size of Proteus Vulgaris is about 1–3 µm × 0.5 µm (micrometer).
Arrangement Of Cells – Pr. vulgaris is arranged singly, in pairs, or in short chains and sometimes in clusters.
MORPHOLOGY OF PROTEUS VULGARIS (MICROSCOPIC VIEW)
Motility – Proteus Vulgaris is an actively motile bacterium and well known for the swarming growth on an ordinary medium like NAM.
Flagella – Pr. Vulgaris is a flagellated bacterium with a Peritrichous flagella arrangement i.e. flagella are present all over the surface of the bacterium.
Spores – The Proteus Vulgaris is a non–sporing bacterium.
Capsule – Capsules are not present in Proteus Vulgaris.
Gram Staining Reaction – Proteus Vulgaris is a Gram -ve (Negative) bacterium.
CULTURE REQUIREMENTS OF PROTEUS VULGARIS (PR. VULGARIS)
⇒ Special requirements – Proteus Vulgaris have no complex nutritional requirements and readily grow in an ordinary media like Nutrient Agar medium (NAM). Commonly the NAM & MacConkey Agar medium is used for the cultivation of Proteus Vulgaris in Laboratory.
⇒ Optimum temperature – Proteus Vulgaris ranges from 10–43°C but the optimum temperature for most of the strains is 37°C and usually cultivated at this temperature in laboratories.
⇒ Optimum pH – Pr. vulgaris can survive alkaline pH as well as acidic pH ranging from 4.0 – 11.0 and the maximum growth of the organism is observed at 6.0 i.e. neutral pH. Also, the pH requirement varies as per the strain of Proteus vulgaris.
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⇒ Oxygen requirements – Proteus Vulgaris (Pr. vulgaris ) is an aerobic bacterium i.e. grow best in the presence of oxygen and it is also a Facultative anaerobic organism i.e. can grow in the low oxygen environment.
⇒ There are various culture media used for the cultivation of Proteus Vulgaris in the laboratory and most commonly the Nutrient Agar medium and MacConkey Agar medium is used, the other media are as follows –
- Columbia Horse Blood Agar medium
- Sheep Blood Agar medium
- Xylose Lysine Dextrose (XLD) Agar medium
- Eosin Methylene Blue Agar (EMB Agar) Medium.
- The liquid medium (Nutrient Broth medium, TSB medium, etc.).
⇒ The Eosin Methylene Blue Agar (EMB Agar) medium can also be used for the cultivation of Proteus Vulgaris in laboratory contains Eosin dye and Methylene Blue dye which inhibits the growth of many gram-positive bacteria, inhibits the growth of Shigella and Salmonella species and supports the growth of Proteus Vulgaris .
CULTURE CHARACTERISTICS OF PROTEUS VULGARIS (PR. VULGARIS)
| Cultural Characteristics | Nutrient Agar Medium (NAM) | MacConkey Agar medium | Blood Agar Medium | EMB Agar medium |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shape | Irregular (due to swarming) | Circular | Irregular (due to swarming) | Circular |
| Size | 1-2 mm | 2-3 mm | 1-2 mm | 2-3 mm |
| Elevation | Effuse | Low Convex | Effuse | Effuse |
| Surface | Glistening | Smooth | Glistening | Glistening |
| Color | Greyish white | Colorless or Pale colored | Greyish white | Colorless |
| Structure | Translucent | Transparent | Translucent –Opaque | Transparent |
| Hemolysis | ----- | ----- | γ-Hemolysis (Non-hemolytic) | ----- |