Nitrogen fixation by Rhizobium sp. 32H1. A morphological and ultrastructural comparison of asymbiotic and symbiotic nitrogen-fixing forms

1979 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 352-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. A. N. Van Brussel ◽  
J. W. Costerton ◽  
J.J. Child

The induction of nitrogenase (C2H2) activity in asymbiotically cultured Rhizobium sp. 32H1 was found to be associated with morphological changes in the cells which were more pronounced than those seen in bacteroids. Polyphosphate granules were found in both bacteroids and cultured cells, but poly-β-hydroxybutyrate vesicles were almost absent in bacteroids but were present in cultured cells. Freeze-etching techniques revealed no differences between the asymbiotically cultured nitrogen-fixing forms and bacteroids in that both the cell wall and cytoplasmic membrane cleavage planes were normal for gram-negative bacteria.

mBio ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maarten G. K. Ghequire ◽  
Susan K. Buchanan ◽  
René De Mot

ABSTRACT Bacteria host an arsenal of antagonism-mediating molecules to combat for ecologic space. Bacteriocins represent a pivotal group of secreted antibacterial peptides and proteins assisting in this fight, mainly eliminating relatives. Colicin M, a model for peptidoglycan-interfering bacteriocins in Gram-negative bacteria, appears to be part of a set of polymorphic toxins equipped with such a catalytic domain (ColM) targeting lipid II. Diversifying recombination has enabled parasitism of different receptors and has also given rise to hybrid bacteriocins in which ColM is associated with another toxin module. Remarkably, ColM toxins have recruited a diverse array of immunity partners, comprising cytoplasmic membrane-associated proteins with different topologies. Together, these findings suggest that different immunity mechanisms have evolved for ColM, in contrast to bacteriocins with nuclease activities.


1973 ◽  
Vol 19 (8) ◽  
pp. 1056-1057 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Forge ◽  
J. W. Costerton

Extraction of whole cells of the marine pseudomonad (B-16) with chloroform–methanol causes the disappearance of the cleavage planes, and the cross-sectioned profile of both the cytoplasmic membrane and the double-track layer of the cell wall.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tsukasa Tominari ◽  
Ayumi Sanada ◽  
Ryota Ichimaru ◽  
Chiho Matsumoto ◽  
Michiko Hirata ◽  
...  

AbstractPeriodontitis is an inflammatory disease associated with severe alveolar bone loss and is dominantly induced by lipopolysaccharide from Gram-negative bacteria; however, the role of Gram-positive bacteria in periodontal bone resorption remains unclear. In this study, we examined the effects of lipoteichoic acid (LTA), a major cell-wall factor of Gram-positive bacteria, on the progression of inflammatory alveolar bone loss in a model of periodontitis. In coculture of mouse primary osteoblasts and bone marrow cells, LTA induced osteoclast differentiation in a dose-dependent manner. LTA enhanced the production of PGE2 accompanying the upregulation of the mRNA expression of mPGES-1, COX-2 and RANKL in osteoblasts. The addition of indomethacin effectively blocked the LTA-induced osteoclast differentiation by suppressing the production of PGE2. Using ex vivo organ cultures of mouse alveolar bone, we found that LTA induced alveolar bone resorption and that this was suppressed by indomethacin. In an experimental model of periodontitis, LTA was locally injected into the mouse lower gingiva, and we clearly detected alveolar bone destruction using 3D-μCT. We herein demonstrate a new concept indicating that Gram-positive bacteria in addition to Gram-negative bacteria are associated with the progression of periodontal bone loss.


1970 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-318
Author(s):  
D. Friedberg ◽  
I. Friedberg ◽  
M. Shilo

Interaction of lysosomal fraction with Escherichia coli caused damage to the cell envelope of these intact cells and to the cytoplasmic membrane of E. coli spheroplasts. The damage to the cytoplasmic membrane was manifested in the release of 260-nm absorbing material and β-galactosidase from the spheroplasts, and by increased permeability of cryptic cells to O -nitrophenyl-β- d -galactopyranoside; damage to the cell wall was measured by release of alkaline phosphatase. Microscope observation showed morphological changes in the cell envelope.


eLife ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Romain Mercier ◽  
Yoshikazu Kawai ◽  
Jeff Errington

The peptidoglycan cell wall is a defining structural feature of the bacterial kingdom. Curiously, some bacteria have the ability to switch to a wall-free or ‘L-form’ state. Although known for decades, the general properties of L-forms are poorly understood, largely due to the lack of systematic analysis of L-forms in the molecular biology era. Here we show that inhibition of peptidoglycan precursor synthesis promotes the generation of L-forms from both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. We show that the L-forms generated have in common a mechanism of proliferation involving membrane blebbing and tubulation, which is dependent on an altered rate of membrane synthesis. Crucially, this mode of proliferation is independent of the essential FtsZ based division machinery. Our results suggest that the L-form mode of proliferation is conserved across the bacterial kingdom, reinforcing the idea that it could have been used in primitive cells, and opening up its use in the generation of synthetic cells.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel Haddad ◽  
Anthony Fontanini ◽  
Sara Bellali ◽  
Tatsuki Takakura ◽  
Yusuke Ominami ◽  
...  

Background: Enabling faster Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (AST) is critical, especially to detect antibiotic resistance, to provide rapid and appropriate therapy and to improve clinical outcomes. Although several standard and automated culture-based methods are available and widely used, these techniques take between 18 and 24 h to provide robust results. Faster techniques are needed to reduce the delay between test and results.Methods: Here we present a high throughput AST method using a new generation of tabletop scanning electron microscope, to evaluate bacterial ultra-structural modifications associated with susceptibilities to imipenem as a proof of concept. A total of 71 reference and clinical strains of Gram-negative bacteria were used to evaluate susceptibility toward imipenem after 30, 60, and 90 min of incubation. The length, width and electron density of bacteria were measured and compared between imipenem susceptible and resistant strains.Results: We correlated the presence of these morphological changes to the bacterial susceptibility and their absence to the bacterial resistance (e.g., Pseudomonas aeruginosa length without [2.24 ± 0.61 μm] and with [2.50 ± 0.68 μm] imipenem after 30 min [p = 3.032E-15]; Escherichia coli width without [0.92 ± 0.07 μm] and with [1.28 ± 0.19 μm] imipenem after 60 min [p = 1.242E-103]). We validated our method by a blind test on a series of 58 clinical isolates where all strains were correctly classified as susceptible or resistant toward imipenem.Conclusion: This method could be a potential tool for rapidly identifying carbapenem-resistance in Enterobacterales in clinical microbiology laboratories in <2 h, allowing the empirical treatment of patients to be rapidly adjusted.


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