A Large-celled Dissociative Form of Escherichia coli: and its Relation to the So-called Pettenkofer Bodies

Abstract

An aberrant cell type resembling Kuhn''s Pettenkofer bodies was secured when a culture of E. coli, which had been carried in LiCl broth, was transferred to LiCl-free agar. The aberrant cells were globules and were found to change directly to rods when again placed in a LiCl medium. The aberrant cells reverted to normal E. coli when grown for a number of transfers in either plain or lactose broth. Liberation of spores from these bodies was not observed. The bodies were not considered to be a part of the life-cycle of either myxomycetes or protozoa, as suggested by Kuhn.