| Azomonas agilis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Colonial morphology (left) and microscopic morphology (x100; right) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Bacteria |
| Kingdom: | Pseudomonadati |
| Phylum: | Pseudomonadota |
| Class: | Gammaproteobacteria |
| Order: | Pseudomonadales |
| Family: | Pseudomonadaceae |
| Genus: | Azomonas |
| Species: | A. agilis |
| Binomial name | |
| Azomonas agilis (Beijerinck 1901) Winogradsky 1938 | |
Azomonas agilis is a species of motile, Gram-negative bacteria found in water and is capable of fixing atmospheric nitrogen. It is the type strain for the genus Azomonas .
A. agilis resembles protists with its ovoid, ellipsoidal, or coccoid cells. [1] The cells are relatively large, usually 2.5–6.4 μm long and 2.0–2.8 μm wide, though giant cells that are 10.0–13.5 μm have been described. [1] The cells have peritrichous flagella which enable motility. [1] The species also produces a diffusible yellow-green or red-violet pigment which fluoresces bluish-white under ultraviolet light. [1]
A. agilis was first isolated and described by Martinus Beijerinck in 1901, who obtained the species from Dutch canal water in Delft. [1] Beijernick's original strain has been lost, so the strain isolated by Albert Kluyver and van den Bout is now the neotype. [1] Despite the fact that mannitol was used by Beijerinck in his enrichment medium for A. agilis, the bacteria in pure culture cannot use it as a carbon source unless it is first degraded by other microbes. [1]
The species can tolerate salt concentrations up to 1.0% and is resistant to iodoacetate (1 μM) which suggests it may have ability to live in contaminated waters with relatively high concentrations of organic matter and mineral salts. [1] This bacterium has also been implicated in the bioremediation of cadmium-polluted water. [2]