DEHALOCOCCOIDES AND REDUCTIVE DECHLORINATION OF CHLORINATED SOLVENTS - Bioaugmentation for Groundwater Remediation - page 55

DEHALOCOCCOIDES MORPHOLOGY
AND PHYSIOLOGY
Dhc are tiny bacteria with a flattened, round morphology approximately 0.5

2.5

m m in diameter

and 0.1 m thick. The first isolate was designated Dehalococcoides , indicating a spherical

morphology, but additional microscopic analysis revealed a disc-shaped morphology with
characteristic biconcave indentations on opposite flat sides of the cell. This donut-shape
morphology resembles that of a red blood cell, except that the overall dimensions are much
smaller (Figure 2.2 ).

m

Figure 2.2. Scanning electron micrographs of Dhc strain FL2 (a) and BAV1 (b and c) (modified from
He et al., 2003b ). Micrographs a and b indicate the disc-shaped, indented cell morphology. Visible
in the micrograph are the open pores of a 0.2- m mmembrane filter demonstrating the small Dhc cell
size. Micrograph c shows a BAV1 cell displaying peculiar appendages of unknown function.