[Comparative characteristics of free-living ultramicroscopical bacteria obtained from extremal biotopes].

We isolated 50 strains of free-living ultrasmall bacteria with a cell volume that varies from 0.02 to 1.3 microm3 from a range of extremal natural biotopes, namely permafrost soils, oil slime, soils, lake silt, thermal swamp moss, and the skin integuments of the clawed frog, Xenopus laevis.