Morphological Structure of Rickettsiae

Plotz, Harry; Smadel, Joseph E.; Anderson, Thomas F.; Chambers, Leslie A.

doi:10.1084/jem.77.4.355

Cited by 29 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 6 publications

(3 reference statements)

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“…reference 3). Photographs with the electron microscope have revealed some internal structures similar to those found in bacteria (4). Chemical analysis of isolated rickettsiae, however, has shown the presence of desoxyribonucleic acid only, no ribonucleic acid having been detected (5,6).…”

Section: P~l~s 35 and 36mentioning

confidence: 89%

The Cytology of Rickettsiae

Ris

Fox

1949

Journal of Experimental Medicine

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Internal structures of rickettsiae seen with phase contrast microscopy and in the electron microscope contain desoxyribonucleic acid and are therefore nuclear structures similar to those found in bacteria. They are minute spherical bodies, either single as in spherical rickettsiae or varying in number from 2 to 4 in rod-shaped forms. Occasional dumbbell-shaped chromatinic bodies are thought to represent these structures in the process of division. The presence of ribonucleic acid in the cytoplasm of rickettsiae was demonstrated with the use of ribonuclease and basic dyes. Rickettsiae therefore have a cellular organization similar to that of certain bacteria, with a clear differentiation into nuclear structure and cytoplasm.

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Section: P~l~s 35 and 36mentioning

confidence: 89%

The Cytology of Rickettsiae

Ris

Fox

1949

Journal of Experimental Medicine

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“…All workers who have examined rickettsiae with the electron microscope have noted a limiting membrane surrounding the microorganisms, although several different terms have been used to describe this structure. Plotz et al (1943) first described this limiting membrane in R. prowazekii, R. mooseri (R. typhi), R. rickettsii, and Coxiella burnetii. In an ear-ly report on the soluble 5.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fine Structure of Rickettsia quintana Cultivated In Vitro and in the Louse

Ito

Vinson

1965

J Bacteriol

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structure of Rickettsia quintana cultivated in vitro and in the louse. J. Bacteriol. 89: 481-495. 1965.-Usually rod-shaped, Rickettsia quintana cells measure about 0.2 to 0.5 , wide and up to 1.6 IA long. The rickettsiae have both an outer cell wall, about 80 A thick, and a plasma membrane, about 70 A thick, each of which is trilaminar. Occasional vesicular invaginations of the plasma membrane occur. The nuclear material, distributed in irregular zones throughout the cytoplasm, appears as a loose network of fine fibrils when postfixed with uranyl acetate and as thick strands or clumps after routine OS04 fixation. The cytoplasm is densely packed with numerous granules, presumably ribosomes, about 150 A in diameter. Histochemical studies revealed the presence of both ribonucleic and deoxyribonucleic acids. During binary fission, a constricting furrow is formed by the cell wall and plasmalemma. No difference in fine structure was observed between R. quintana propagated on cell-free media and in the louse. Rickettsiae constitute a grotul) of microorganisms regarded as intermediate between bacteria and viruses. Although their morphological and physiological characteristics more closely resemble those of certain bacteria, they depend, like viruses, on living host cells for their multiplication. With the exception of Rickettsia quintana, rickettsiae are obligatory intracellular parasites. R. quintana, the etiological agent of trench fever, multiplies extracellularly in the gut of its arthropod vector, Pediculus humanus var. corporis (Wolbach, Todd, and Palfrey, 1922); and, recently, Vinson and Fuller (1961) and Vinson, Varela, and Molina (in preparation) reported the cultivation of R. quintana on cell-free media, as well as in lice, in cells cultivated in vitro, and in the yolk sac of the developing chick embryo. Although studies on the fine structure of several rickettsiae have been reported by various investigators (

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“…Electron-scattering granules have been recorded in a considerable variety of microbes. These include: mycobacteria (von Borries and Lembke and Ruska, 1940;Mudd, Polevitzky, and Anderson, 1942;Rosenblatt et al, 1942;Knaysi, Hillier, and Fabricant, 1950;Mudd, Winterscheid, DeLamater, and Henderson, 1951); corynebacteria (Morton and Anderson, 1941;van Iterson, 1947; K6nig and Winkler, 1948); various gram-negative rods (von Borries, Ruska, and Ruska, 1938;Piekarski and Ruska, 1939;Ruska, 1940;Bielig, Kausche, and Haardick, 1949); gram-positive and gram-negative cocci (Friihbrodt and Ruska, 1940;Knaysi and Mudd, 1943);vibrios Mudd, Polevitzky, and Anderson, 1942); various spiral organisms (Mudd, Polevitzky, and Anderson, 1943;Dyar, 1947;Babudieri, 1948); Spirillum volutans (Konig and Winkler, 1950); Donovania granulomatis (Rake and Oskay, 1948); pleuro-pneumonialike organisms (Smith, Hillier, and Mudd, 1948); rickettsiae (Plotz, Smadel, Anderson, and Chambers, 1943;Babudieri and Bocciarelli, 1943;Eyer and Ruska, 1944;Ris and Fox, 1949); and Streptomyces (Carvajal, 1946). Many of the investigators in question made no attempt to explain the nature and function of the electron-scattering intracellular particles; others interpreted the particles in certain bacteria as nuclei, volutin, etc.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Further Evidence of the Existence of Mitochondria in Bacteria

et al. 1951

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The granules of mycobacteria, originally described by Robert Koch as spores, have been shown in a preceding communication to be sites of oxidative-reductive enzymatic activity. In respect to several enzymatic reactions, as well as in tinctorial and morphological characteristics, these mycobacterial granules were shown to correspond to mitochondria (Mudd, Winterscheid, DeLamater, and Henderson, 1951). In the present communication granules in several other species of bacteria have been examined by similar criteria. These granules also have been found to correspond in essential characteristics to mitochondria. METHODS AND MATERIALS The microorganisms used were: Escherichia coli, strain B; Bacillus megatherium, a strain originally given us by Dr. C. F. Robinow; Micrococcus cryophilus, a large gram-variable coccus isolated in the Department of Agriculture (McLean, Sulzbacher, and Mudd, 1951) and utilized for studies on nuclear mitosis (DeLamater and Woodburn, 1951); and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a strain from baker's yeast and a "cytochromeless" variant, received through the courtesy of Dr. H. M. Davidson, which had been derived as described by Ephrussi and colleagues (Ephrussi, Hottinguer, and Chimenes, 1949; Slonimski and Ephrussi, 1949). The cells of E. coli and B. megatherium used had been grown for 3 to 4 hours at 37 C on Morton and Engley (1945) agar slants or in M. and E. broth. The micrococcus was incubated 24 hours at 20 C on similar agar slants or broth prior to use. Both strains of S. cerevisiae were incubated 24 hours at 37 C onSabouraud's agar slants. The reactions examined for were the reduction of 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium and neotetrazolium, probably indicating the action of flavoprotein enzymes, oxidation of the Nadi reagent, indicating cytochrome oxidase, staining with the mitochondrial stain Janus green B, the Baker acid-hematin stain for phospholipid, and the Harman mitochondrial stain. Experimental procedures were followed as in the preceding communication (Mudd, Winterscheid, DeLamater, and Henderson, 1951) with the following modifications: The reduction of triphenyltetrazolium and neotetrazolium was demonstrated I This research has been aided by a grant from the Damon Runyon Fund through the American Cancer Society as recommended by the Committee on Growth of the National Research Council.

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Morphological Structure of Rickettsiae

Cited by 29 publications

References 6 publications

The Cytology of Rickettsiae

The Cytology of Rickettsiae

Fine Structure of Rickettsia quintana Cultivated In Vitro and in the Louse

Further Evidence of the Existence of Mitochondria in Bacteria

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