Electron microscopy of thin sections of Candida utilis: The structure of the cell wall

1965 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Sentandreu ◽  
J. R. Villanueva
1966 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 465-469 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Mazanec ◽  
M. Kocur ◽  
T. Martinec

Ultra thin sections of Micrococcus cryophilus cells were investigated. The cell wall, consisting of several layers, measures 410–500 Å and is covered with a distinct capsule. The cytoplasm, which is of granular structure, includes ribosomes, condensed chromatin, and occasionally mesosomes. The nuclear material has various shapes and is formed by filaments proceeding in various directions. We could find no evidence to bear out the supposition of Kocur and Martinec (1962) that M. cryophilus is related to Micrococcus luteus. M. cryophilus is, in its structure as well as its groupings of cells, different from micrococci, which leads us to believe that it does not belong to the genus Micrococcus.


1963 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 579-592 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. D. Warth ◽  
D. F. Ohye ◽  
W. G. Murrell

The composition of the insoluble "integuments" and soluble "contents" fractions of spores of four Bacillus species of widely differing heat resistance were compared. Electron microscopy of thin sections was also used to determine and compare the morphological structures in the integument preparations. The soluble fractions of the thermophiles, B. coagulans and B. stearothermophilus, had a higher content of hexose and dipicolinic acid. The hexose content of both fractions of the four species was related to heat resistance. Integument fractions consisted chiefly of protein together with variable amounts of the mucopeptide constituents, α, ϵ-diaminopimelic acid (DAP) and hexosamine. In the thermophiles the DAP and hexosamine were found chiefly in the insoluble integuments fractions, while in B. cereus and B. subtilis most of this material was soluble. Integument preparations, containing mainly protein with little mucopeptide, consisted chiefly of outer and inner spore coats, while preparations having more mucopeptide contained also residual cortical material and a cortical membrane (possibly the germ cell wall). The results suggest that spore integuments consist of mainly proteinaceous outer and inner coats together with variable amounts of residual cortex and cortical membrane which contain the mucopeptide material.


1973 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 1305-1309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert G. Garrison ◽  
Karen S. Boyd

Aspects of the culturally induced mycelial- to tissue-phase transformation of Penicillium marneffei were studied by electron microscopy of thin sections. The hyphal cell was observed to contain multiple, large lipid bodies scattered throughout the cytoplasm. Five days after induction of conversion, short elements arose which were characterized by the presence of two polar areas of vacuolation containing electron-opaque material thought to be altered lipid. This material could not be demonstrated with permanganate fixation, but reacted strongly with thiocarbohydrazide. The latter reagent is known to enhance the electron density of osmium-stained lipids. After 10 days incubation, the tissue-phase cells appeared to be slightly elongate with one or more septa present as the result of division by fission. The cell wall appeared to be of uniform electron opacity with a slightly roughened appearance to the outer surface. Except for residuals of polar vacuolation, the internal morphology of the tissue phase of P. marneffei appeared similar in many respects to that of the analogous yeast-like phases of certain other of the pathogenic dimorphic fungi.


1980 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 289-297
Author(s):  
E. Keyhani

Freeze-fracture of Candida utilis yeast cells grown to early logarithmic phase (5 h) and stationary phase (24 h) revealed a branched mitochondrial reticulum both in longitudinal and transverse cross-fracture studies. In contrast, the longitudinal and transverse sections of permanganate-fixed cells showed that the small ovoid or spherical mitochondria were located at the periphery of the cell, without formation of a reticulum. Data indicate that the separate mitochondrial profiles seen in thin sections of permanganate-fixed yeast cells are not separate round or ovoid mitochondria, but rather are cross-sections of the mitochondrial reticulum.


1973 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles W. Boylen ◽  
Jack L. Pate

Actively growing spherical and rod-shaped cells of Arthrobacter crystallopoietes were subjected to total starvation in buffer for 8 weeks. At intervals, thin sections of cells were prepared and examined by electron microscopy. Starving cells underwent no morphological changes that would account for their unusual survival capabilities. Cell size and shape remained unaltered. There was no thickening of the cell wall and no development of structures similar to those observed in spores or cysts. As the length of starvation increased, the following changes were observed; glycogen deposits disappeared, the number of ribosome particles decreased, the number of vesicular membranes increased within the cell, and the nucleoplasm expanded in volume to fill the emptying cytoplasm.


1970 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 755-785
Author(s):  
D. C. BARKER ◽  
KAREEN J. I. THORNE

Spheroplasts of L. casei were prepared by the simultaneous action of trypsin and lysozyme in the presence of EDTA and 20% sucrose. Electron microscopy of thin sections of cells during the formation of spheroplasts showed that the spheroplasts emerged from the cell wall through a weak point at one end of the cell. Electron microscopy of negatively stained preparations showed that the structure of spheroplast membranes obtained by disruption in hypotonic medium varied according to the nature of the hypotonic medium used. Disruption in water gave small, delicate membrane fragments; disruption in 0.1 M tris-Cl gave large pieces with tubulo-vesicular attachments. The effects of Mg2+ and EDTA were also investigated. Bactoprenol, the C55 isoprenoid alcohol concerned in cell wall biosynthesis, was located by growing L. casei in [14C]mevalonic acid. Over 90% of the cellular bactoprenol was found in the spheroplast membrane when this was obtained with 0.1 M tris-Cl, but only 42% when the spheroplasts were burst in water. It is suggested that the missing bactoprenol may be solubilized with the membranes of mesosomal orgin, and that bactoprenol is therefore a component of both plasma and mesosomal membranes.


1974 ◽  
Vol 20 (9) ◽  
pp. 1229-1233
Author(s):  
Carole R. Dilworth ◽  
Mervyn Franklin ◽  
Gerald N. Bance

Microscopic observation of P. pseudomallei revealed that impaired cell division occurred upon the addition of carbenicillin to early exponential phase cultures. Cells were noticeably elongated after 1 h, and continued to increase in length with time. At 6 h filaments were abundant. Spherical bodies, some of which appeared to lyse, were frequently observed along the length of these filaments. Electron microscopy of thin sections confirmed that filament formation proceeded without fission, and constrictions were absent. Replication and segregation of DNA appeared normal; and the density of ribosomes suggested that protein synthesis was not impaired. Two types of inclusion bodies, observed in the nucleoid region of the filaments, were more pronounced compared with untreated cells. It was speculated that one of the inclusions was polyphosphate. The cell walls of the filaments showed decreased electron density. These observations suggest that synthesis of components of the cell wall is impaired by carbenicillin.


1963 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 327-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Audrey M. Glauert ◽  
D. Kerridge ◽  
R. W. Horne

The sheathed flagellum of Vibrio metchnikovii was chosen for a study of the attachment of the flagellum to the bacterial cell. Normal and autolysed organisms and isolated flagella were studied by electron microscopy using the techniques of thin sectioning and negative staining. The sheath of the flagellum has the same layered structure as the cell wall of the bacterium, and in favourable thin sections it appears that the sheath is a continuation of the cell wall. After autolysis the sheath is usually absent and the core of the flagellum has a diameter of 120 A. Electron micrographs of autolysed bacteria negatively stained with potassium phosphotungstate show that the core ends in a basal disc just inside the plasma membrane. The basal disc is about 350 A in diameter and is thus considerably smaller than the "basal granules" described previously by other workers.


Author(s):  
Nakazo Watari ◽  
Yasuaki Hotta ◽  
Yoshio Mabuchi

It is very useful if we can observe the identical cell elements within the same sections by light microscopy (LM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and/or scanning electron microscopy (SEM) sequentially, because, the cell fine structure can not be indicated by LM, while the color is; on the other hand, the cell fine structure can be very easily observed by EM, although its color properties may not. However, there is one problem in that LM requires thick sections of over 1 μm, while EM needs very thin sections of under 100 nm. Recently, we have developed a new method to observe the same cell elements within the same plastic sections using both light and transmission (conventional or high-voltage) electron microscopes.In this paper, we have developed two new observation methods for the identical cell elements within the same sections, both plastic-embedded and paraffin-embedded, using light microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and/or scanning electron microscopy (Fig. 1).


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