MORPHOLOGICAL DIVERSITY OF THE COLONY PRODUCED BY BACTERIA PROTEUS-MIRABILIS

Morphological changes of colonies have been investigated for a bacteri al strain of Proteus mirabilis, which is a famous species for producin g concentric-ring-like colonies. It was found that colony patterns can be classified into three types, i.e., cyclic spreading, diffusion-lim ited growth (DLA-like) and three-dimensional growth (inside the agar m edium) patterns. Cyclic spreading patterns can further be classified i nto three subgroups, i.e., concentric-ring, homogeneous and spatiotemp oral patterns. These subgroups were classified by examining the develo pment of colony structure after colonies spread all over petri-dishes. Comparison of the results with those of another bacterial species Bac illus subtilis is also discussed.