Spirilium shaped bacteria.

[Kambio]

I am in need of a spirillium shaped bacteria. I have tried unsuccessfully to culture bacteria from my pond scraping stuff from the underside of the pond lillies. No spiral shaped bacteria found successfully even though several different incubation conditions and o2 levels tried. Does anyone know where i can find these either commercially or? in Australia.

[actinophrys]

I am far from an expert, but for what it is worth, I've seen plentiful spirilla in standing puddles over old grass. The Prokaryotes notes at least Spirillum and Aquaspirillum as most common in various stagnant habitats, including hay infusions, so those should be a better place to start.

They also note spirilla grow better in dilute media so they do not get overwhelmed by other bacteria, though the details unfortunately seem to depend on the type. The method of separating them is an involved one based on their high speed – basically luring them along a tube and cutting it off before other bacteria can catch up – so hopefully you don't need them by themselves.

[Kambio]

Thank you. That was most helpful

[apochronaut]

Just to be clear, are you interested in the shape, or a specific species? Spirillum are spiral in shape, whereas spirochetes are more compressed like a corkscrew. Spirochetes are more common.If a spirochete would do as well, there are lots of them amongst the community in a mouth swab.