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Introduction to the Gliding Bacteria

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The Prokaryotes

Abstract

The gliding bacteria are, in all likelihood, a phylogenetically heterogeneous group. The uniting character, gliding motility, may have the same taxonomic importance and reliability as flagellation. To compound the problem, we still know so little about these fascinating bacteria that our generalizations are of necessity based on relatively few observations. Thus, an organism that has lost its gliding motility may not be recognizable as a member of this group. This question may be more than theoretically important, as illustrated by the taxonomic difficulties centering around the Cytophaga-Flavobac-terium complex.

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Authors
  1. Hans Reichenbach
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  2. Martin Dworkin
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Bacteriology, University of California, 95616, Davis, California, USA

    Mortimer P. Starr

  2. Lehrstuhl für Mikrobiologie, Universität Bayreuth, 8580, Bayreuth, Federal Republic of Germany

    Heinz Stolp

  3. Institut für Mikrobiologie, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, 5300, Bonn 1, Federal Republic of Germany

    Hans G. Trüper

  4. Bacteriology Division, Centers for Disease Control, 30333, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Albert Balows

  5. Institut für Mikrobiologie, Universität Göttingen, 3400, Göttingen, Federal Republic of Germany

    Hans G. Schlegel

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Reichenbach, H., Dworkin, M. (1981). Introduction to the Gliding Bacteria. In: Starr, M.P., Stolp, H., Trüper, H.G., Balows, A., Schlegel, H.G. (eds) The Prokaryotes. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-13187-9_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-13187-9_19

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