The fine structure of "resting bodies" of Bdellovibrio sp. strain W developed in Rhodospirillum rubrum
Resting bodies of Bdellovibrio sp. strain W were produced following the infection of Rhodospirillum rubrum in liquid culture. Thin sections showed that young resting bodies possessed a narrow layer of amorphous material at their periphery, and storage granules in the region of the nucleoplasm. In mature resting bodies, the amorphous material (now called the outer layer) had thickened considerably to 30–40 nm, and the cell wall had differentiated into a folded, tripartite inner layer. Freeze-etched preparations of mature resting bodies showed a roughly particulate plasma membrane, a more finely particulate inner layer, and an outer layer having little structure.Bdellovibrio W did not produce resting bodies in a second host, Escherichia coli B. Also B. bacteriovorus strain 109 failed to form resting bodies in E. coli B, its usual host. It also failed to grow in cultures of R. rubrum. These restricted experiments suggest that the development of resting bodies may be specific for the Bdellovibrio W – R. rubrum parasite–host system.