Pleomorphism (microbiology)

Not to be confused with Pleomorphism (cytology).

Pleomorphism, in microbiology, is the ability of some bacteria to alter their shape or size in response to environmental conditions. Pleomorphism has been observed in some members of the Deinococcaceae family.[1] The modern definition of pleomorphism in the context of bacteriology is based on variation of size or shape of the cell, rather than a change of shape as previously believed.[1]

Bacteria

In the first decades of the 20th century, the term "pleomorphism" was used to refer to the idea that bacteria changed shape dramatically or existed in a number of extreme morphological forms. This claim was controversial among microbiologists of the time, and split them into two schools: the monomorphists, who opposed the claim, and the pleomorphists such as Antoine Béchamp, Ernst Almquist, Günther Enderlein and Albert Calmette.[2]

Monomorphic theory, supported by Louis Pasteur, Rudolf Virchow, Ferdinand Cohn, and Robert Koch, emerged to become the dominant paradigm in modern medical science: it is now almost universally accepted that each bacterial cell is derived from a previously existing cell of practically the same size and shape. However it has recently been shown that certain bacteria are capable of dramatically changing shape, for example Helicobacter pylori exists as both a helix-shaped form (classified as a curved rod) and a coccoid form.[3]

Viruses

The virions of certain viruses sometimes exhibit pleomorphism, in the sense that their appearances can vary. However, this is not true pleomorphism, as individual virions are not changing shape, but being succeeded by virions with different shapes. One example is the bacterial viruses of the Plasmaviridae family.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 Joshi HM, Toleti RS (2009). "Nutrition induced pleomorphism and budding mode of reproduction in Deinococcus radiodurans". BMC Research Notes 2: 123. doi:10.1186/1756-0500-2-123. PMC 2714317. PMID 19583846.
  2. ↑ Feldberg, Georgina (1995). Disease and class: tuberculosis and the shaping of modern North American society. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-8135-2218-0.
  3. ↑ Andersen LP, Rasmussen L (July 2009). "Helicobacter pylori-coccoid forms and biofilm formation". FEMS Immunology and Medical Microbiology 56 (2): 112–5. doi:10.1111/j.1574-695X.2009.00556.x. PMID 19453756.
  4. ↑ Desk Encyclopedia of General Virology. Boston: Academic Press. 2009. p. 254. ISBN 0-12-375146-2.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, October 28, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.