The Morphology of the L 1 of Klieneberger and Its Relationship to Streptobacillus moniliformis

Abstract

The morphology of several strains of L1 was studied in stained agar and impression prepns. The small forms in the colonies are small, often bipolar-stained bacilli. They enlarge by gradual swelling into large forms in which the small forms are again reproduced. The large bodies produced by swelling of bacteria in cultures of S. moniliformis contain similar small bacillary forms, and when they germinate they produce an L1 colony. Sometimes the large bodies in the Streptobacillus culture are filled with bacilli of the usual shape and reproduce the usual bacillary colonies. The morphology of L1, like that of the whole pleuropneumonia group, is bacillary, and the swelling into large round forms and reproduction by these large forms are similar in nature to the "analogous processes observed in other bacteria.