Relationship between cell coiling and motility of spirochetes in viscous environments.

The lowest viscosity that stops translational motility of cells (minimum immobilizing viscosity [MIV] was determined for various spirochetes. The viscous agent used was polyvinylpyrrolidone, The MIV for either Spirochaeta halophila P1 or Spirochaeta aurantia J4T was approximately 1,000 centipoise (cp), and for Leptospira interrogans (biflexa) B16 the MIV was greater than 500 cp. In comparison, the MIV for the flagellated bacteria Escherichia coli and Spirillum serpens was 60 cp. MIV values for two S. halophila mutant strains lacking the characteristic cell coiling (Hel-mutants) were 70 and 120 cp, approximately one-tenth the MIV for the wild-type strain. MIV values for cells of S. aurantia strains with fewer coils than comparably long cells of S. aurantia J4T were 300 to 600 cp. The average velocity of strains of S. aurantia and S. halophila decreased at viscosities higher than 2 to 3 cp. At 2 cp the average velocity of S. halophila P1 was 16 micron/s, whereas the average velocities of Hel-mutant strains were 7 to 9 micron/s. This study indicates that the coiling of spirochetes plays a role in their ability to move through environments of realtively high viscosity. Among the spirochetes we investigated, this ability is greater in the more extensively coiled strains.