Spirochaetes (also spelled spirochetes) belong
to a phylum of distinctive diderm (double-membrane) bacteria, most of
which have long, helically coiled (spiral-shaped) cells. Spirochaetes
are chemoheterotrophic in nature, with lengths between 5 and 250 µm and diameters around 0.1–0.6 µm.[citation needed]
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| Spirochaete |
Spirochaetes
are distinguished from other bacterial phyla by the location of their
flagella, sometimes called axial filaments, which run lengthwise between
the bacterial inner membrane and outer membrane in periplasmic space.
These cause a twisting motion which allows the spirochaete to move
about. When reproducing, a spirochaete will undergo asexual transverse
binary fission.
Most spirochaetes are free-living and anaerobic, but there are
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