A STUDY OF A NEW SPECIES OF SPONGIOCHLORIS INTRODUCED INTO STERILE SOIL

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Abstract
A new species of Spongiochloris, S. typica, was isolated from a Connecticut soil. It can be distinguished from other species by the presence of many pyrenoids; by the cell size of light‐grown cells (up to 80μ), usually with thin walls; and by the vacuolate older cells. Zoospores present favorable material for observation of withdrawal of flagella upon quiescence. The organism was reintroduced into sterile soil, the soil was then air‐dried, and the viability of the organism in soil was measured during 1 year. Each month, a 0.5‐g sample of soil was heated at 100 C for 1 hr prior to incubation in basal medium; a control sample was incubated, along with the treated soil, in continuous illumination. By means of 10‐fold dilutions of such cultures, it was determined that more than 10,000 cells per 0.5 g of soil survived heat pretreatment and more than 100,000 cells per 0.5 g were viable in the desiccated soil after 1 year.
Funding Information
  • N S F (G-16106)