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Six aerobic gram-positive nonspore-forming bacterial strains belonging to the Kurthia genus were isolated from the Magadan (Susuman) mammoth found in the permafrost of the East Siberia. The strains are a phenotypically homogeneous group different from the two known species (K. zopfii and K. gibsonii) in requiring more vitamins, the absence of growth in a medium with 7% NaCl, and a low level of DNA-DNA hybridization (not more than 45%). Moreover, the strains differ from K. zopfii in the synthesis of a yellow pigment, the activity of phosphatase, and the absence of coccoid forms; the bacteria differ from K. gibsonii in the absence of growth at a temperature above 40 degrees C. The organisms are referred to as Kurthia sibirica sp. nov. The type strain 13-2 has been deposited in the All-Union Collection of Microorganisms as strain VKB B-1549. more...

Comparative studies were made employing thirteen new isolates of Kurthia zopfii and strain ATCC 10538. It was shown that the cell wall of K. zopfii contained lysine, glycine, alanine, leucine, valine, aspartic and glutamic acids, ribose. The guanine plus cytosine content of deoxyribonucleic acid was 37-38 mol%. The simple post-fission cell movement was demonstrated. The obtained results are discussed against the practice of including the Kurthia into the group of coryneform bacteria. more...

As has been shown by electron microscopy, the development of the endosymbiont in the nitrogen-fixing nodules of A. glutinosa proceeds either along the known (hyphae leads to vesicles) or less convenient pattern (hyphae leads to sporangia leads to spores). The paper presents more complete information about the structure of layers which separate the endosymbiont from the cytoplasm of host cells and about changes in the structure of the both partners accompanying sporogenesis. more...