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PhotobacteriumRANK: GenusTAXONOMY: cellular organisms -> Bacteria -> Proteobacteria -> Gammaproteobacteria -> Vibrionales -> Vibrionaceae -> Photobacterium OVERVIEW: Plump, straight rods, 0.8–1.3 × 1.8–2.4 μm; some coccobacillary and bipolar. Involution forms are usually seen in old cultures or under adverse conditions of cultivation. Gram negative. Motile by 1–3 unsheathed polar flagella; some species nonmotile. Facultative anaerobic. Chemoorganotrophic, having both a respiratory and a fermentative type of metabolism. Optimal growth temperature range appears to be 18–25°C, except for the psychrophilic species P. profundum. Sodium ions are required for growth. d-Glucose and d-mannose are catabolized with the production of acid and, in the case of P. damselae subsp. damselae, P. iliopiscarium, and P. phosphoreum, with gas. Oxidase reaction is variable. Most strains are lysine decarboxylase and arginine di-hydrolase positive. Ornithine decarboxylase negative. Accumulate poly-β-hydroxybutyrate (PBH) under certain conditions of cultivation; do not use the exogenous monomer β-hydroxybutyrate. Most strains grow in a minimal medium containing a seawater base, d-glucose, and NH4Cl; other strains also require l-methionine. Utilize d-glucose, d-fructose, glycerol, and d-mannose. Some species are bioluminescent.The mol% G + C of the DNA is: 39–44 (Baumann and Baumann, 1977).Type species: Photobacterium phosphoreum ( |