Cellular Elongation of Vibrio cholerae by the Treatment of Antibiotics : Part 1 Formation of Elongated Cell Body and Its Morphological Features

Every species in the genus Vibrio has a slightly twisted cell body with a half-turn, and called as ”comma shape” : the twist-direction is unknown because of its short cell body with the incomplete turn. Eight strains of V. cholerae and 9 strains of non-O_1 V. cholerae were cultured in the heart infusion broth containing cephalexin (0.10-50μg/ml) at 30℃ overnight and the elongation of the cell bodies was induced. The specimens were observed under scanning electron microscopy. All the strains of V. cholerae and non-O_1 V. cholerae except for 3 strains showed the elongated cell bodies with the righthanded helices. These 3 strains showed elongation with incomplete and irregular helices and their handedness was not assessed.