MORPHOLOGICAL DIVERSITY OF CULTURED CANINE GASTRIC HELICOBACTER SPP

The cell morphology, the number of flagella, the occurrence of peripla smic fibrils and ultrastructural structures of five groups of cultured canine gastric Helicobacter spp. were compared. The study included fo ur strains of Helicobacter felis, four strains of Helicobacter bizzoze ronii one strain of 'Flexispira', six strains of an unnamed spiral org anism 2 and one strain of an unnamed spiral organism 3 which were isol ated from gastric biopsies. Cultures were studied with negative staini ng, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron micro scopy (SEM). Bacterial dimensions were measured from the negative stai ning samples and values were rested with ANOVA and Bonferroni tests. T he organisms studied differed from each other morphologically. H. feli s was a slightly spiraled organism with periplasmic fibrils. 'Flexispi ra' was a thin and straight organism with periplasmic fibrils. H. bizz ozeronii was a tightly spiraled organism. Spiral organism 2 was loosel y spiraled and thicker than the other organisms. Spiral organism 3 was a short curved rod having a single bipolar flagellum. The other speci es had multiple flagella. As a conclusion the canine gastric Helicobac ter spp. can be differentiated from each other morphologically with an electron microscope. The morphological differences were mainly found in the structures involved in motility. The importance of the differen ces may lie in their impact on the colonization in a gastric mucous en vironment. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.