Polaromonas vacuolata

Higher Order Taxa

Bacteria; Proteobacteria; Betaproteobacteria; Burkholderiales; Comamonadaceae; Polaromonas

Description and Significance

Palmer Station, where the organism was first found, is located on the south end of Anvers Island

Cell Structure and Metabolism

A micrograph of the organism, note the gas vacuoles at the top

The bacteria which were studied were short, unicellular, gram-negative rods(0.8 by 2 to 3 pm) that typically produced gas vacuoles which appeared as bright refractile areas within the cells. [1] While the cells were non-motile when cultured, the appearance of flagella suggests that they are capable of motion.

Related Bacterial Species

In 2004 another organism was proposed for the genus Polaromonas, Polaramonas Napthalenivorans CJ2, which is an aquatic gram-negative, non-spore formin, non-motile coccus. It is capable of growth with naphthalene as its sole carbon and energy source.[3]

Pathology

At this time, there are no diseases related to this organism have been observed.