Azotobacter chroococcum

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Electron micrograph; gold-shadowed; x16,000 of Azotobacter chroococcum small gonidia showing bacillary form and polar flagellation. Image credit: Bisset and Hale 1953.

Classification

Bacteria; Proteobacteria; Gammaproteobacteria; Pseudomonadales; Pseudomonadaceae

Species

NCBI: [1]

Azotobacter chroococcum

Description and Significance

Describe the appearance, habitat, etc. of the organism, and why you think it is important.

Azotobacter chroococcum colonies are characterized by a creamy color, circular shape, and smooth convex type. Single bacterium are characterized by a rod shape and are motile by way of a flagella (Talabani et al. 2019).

Genome Structure

Describe the size and content of the genome. How many chromosomes? Circular or linear? Other interesting features? What is known about its sequence?

The genome of Azotobacter chroococcum consists of a singular circular chromosome and six plasmids totaling 5,192,291 bp. The singular circular chromosome contains 4,591,803 bp while the plasmids pAcX50a, b, c, d, e, f contain 10,435 bp, 13,852 bp, 62,783 bp, 69,713 bp, 132,724 bp, and 311,724 bp respectively (Robson et al. 2015).

Cell Structure, Metabolism and Life Cycle

Interesting features of cell structure; how it gains energy; what important molecules it produces.

Azotobacter chroococcum is a free-living and obligately-aerobic gram negative bacteria that has the ability for atmospheric nitrogen fixation (Robson et al. 2015, Talabani et al. 2019).

Ecology and Pathogenesis

Habitat; symbiosis; biogeochemical significance; contributions to environment.

If relevant, how does this organism cause disease? Human, animal, plant hosts? Virulence factors, as well as patient symptoms.

References

Robson RL, Jones R, Robson RM, Schwartz A, Richardson TH. 2015. Azotobacter Genomes: The Genome of Azotobacter chroococcum NCIMB 8003 (ATCC 4412). PLOS ONE. [accessed 2022 November 20;10(6):e0127997. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0127997.]

Talabani SK, Fattah OA, Khider AK. 2019. CLASSICAL AND MOLECULAR APPROACHES FOR IDENTIFICATION OF RHIZOBIUM LEGUMINOSARIUM, AZOTOBACTER CHROOCOCCUM AND BACILLUS MEGATERIUM. APPLIED ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH. [accessed 2022 November 21;17(5):12491-12506. doi:10.15666/aeer/1705_1249112506.]

Lenart A. 2012. Occurrence, Characteristics, and Genetic Diversity of Azotobacter chroococcum in Various Soils of Southern Poland. Polish Journal of Environmental Studies. [accessed 2022 November 21;21(2):415-424.]

Kumar R, Bhatia R, Kukreja K, Behl RK, Dudeja SS, Narula N. 2007. Establishment of Azotobacter on plant roots: chemotactic response, development and analysis of root exudates of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Journal of Basic Microbiology. [accessed 2022 November 21;47(5):436-439. doi:10.1002/jobm.200610285.]

Author

Page authored by Isabella Ickes, student of Prof. Bradley Tolar at UNC Wilmington.