Microaerophilies of campylobacters and related organisms

The general characteristics of campylobacters and related organisms (e.g., species of the genera Helicobacter and Wolinella, Bacteroides ureolyticus, and Bacteroides gracilis) are as follows: slender, non-sporeforming, gram-negative, vibroid bacteria (helical- or spiral- shpaed; except that B. ureolyticus and B. gracilis are straight-rod), 0.2-0.5 .mu.m in width and 0.5 .mu.m in length. (Smibert, 1984; Penner, 1988). The species of genus Campylobacter and related organisms are chemoorganotrophs; however, they neither oxidize nor ferment carbohydrates and instead obtain energy from amino acids, the salts of tricarboxylic acids (TCA) cycle intermediates, the salts of organic acids, or, in some species, H$\_$2/. With regard to their oxygen responses for growth, they all are microaeophilic i.e., they are capable of oxygen-dependent growth (respiring with oxygen as a terminal electron acceptor) but can not grow in the presence of a level of oxygen equivalent to that present in an air atmosphere (21% oxygen). This review will take interests in how these microorganisms response to oxygen for growth and what repiratory types they have.