A Procedure for the Simultaneous Demonstration of the Cell Walls and Chromatinic Bodies of Bacteria

Abstract

A review of the methods which have been used to demonstrate the chromatinic bodies of bacteria will reveal a failing common to all, namely, that they demonstrate the barriers of the bacterial protoplasm very poorly or not at all. The transverse cell walls have occasionally been shown by Piekarski's (1937) hydrochloric acid-Giemsa technique, for example, in photographs presented by Robinow (1946) and Flewett (1948). The author has found from his own experiences, and from examining photographs presented by other workers, that with the technique mentioned above the transverse walls appear irregularly and are poorly stained. A method is here presented which corrects this difficulty in at least one group of bacteria, the genus Bacillus. METHODS Cultures of the various organisms studied were grown on brain heart infusion agar (Difco) plates. The inoculum of the several species of Bacillus studied was

Electron Microscopy of Ultra-Thin Sections of Bacteria I

“…Thus, our work clearly indicates that the initial partitioning of the cell observed by the early workers was only apparent and that, furthermore, the cytoplasmic membrane, if such exists, is not involved. Our suggestion that what was being observed by the light microscopists was the early planar arrangement of the peripheral bodies is given some support by the staining experiments made by Bisset (1948) and Cassel (1951). It must be noted, of course, that the nature of the process of cellular division undoubtedly varies greatly with species and conditions of growth (Hewitt, 1951).…”