Electron microscopy of a strain of Bordetella bronchiseptica.
A strain of Bordetella bronchiseptica that had been isolated from a rat hepatoma cell culture was investigated by means of electron microscopy. Bacteria were examined after (i) negative staining with phosphotungstate or uranyl acetate, (ii) metal shadowing with platinum-palladium, and (iii) fixation with glutaraldehyde followed by embedding, sectioning, and staining. The multilayered bacterial cell walls appeared lobulated in negatively stained and in metal-shadowed specimens; the lobules were demarcated by grooves, 100 to 200 A in width, but without interruption of continuity in any layer of the cell wall. Cross sections of fixed material revealed wrinkled cell walls in many-but not all-preparations. Bacterial cell membranes and cytoplasm were similar to those of other gram-negative bacilli (e.g., Escherichia coli). Bacteria fixed in 1.5% glutaraldehyde contained intertwined or whorled fibrils, down to about 20 A in thickness. The flagella were peritrichous, measured about 200 A in width, and were composed of braided strands, about 20 A in width.
D000818:Animals; D001884:Bordetella / Q000166:cytology*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000382:microbiology; D002462:Cell Membrane; D002467:Cell Nucleus; D002473:Cell Wall; D003593:Cytoplasm; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000166:cytology; D005407:Flagella; D006386:Hemagglutination Tests; D008113:Liver Neoplasms; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D051381:Rats; D013194:Staining and Labeling