ON THE COMPOSITION OF THE INTESTINAL MICROBIOTA OF FRIDERICIA-HEGEMON (ENCHYTRAEIDAE)

A computer-aided numerical taxonomic analysis on selected representative bacterial and actinomycete strains isolated from fresh faecal pellets of Fridericia hegemon (Enchytraeidae) revealed that pseudomonads, belonging to a particular variety of Pseudomonas aureofaciens, are the predominant gut colonizers of this worm. These, together with nocardioform actinomycetes, among them ''Non Motile Oerskovia-like Organisms'' (NMOs: Type-B), Micrococcus spp and undetermined Gram-positive, non-fermenting rods constitute the larger fraction of the intestinal microbial population. The faecal bacteria of F. hegemon are mostly Gram-negative, non-fermenting, developing well at 5-degrees-C but, apart from a few strains, not multiplying at 38-degrees-C, actively producing H2S, growing quickly at high pH values, chitinase-negative and phosphatase-positive organisms, which can grow on simple synthetic media.