Thickened cell walls of Bacillus cereus grown in the presence of chloramphenicol: their fate during cell growth

Abstract

Bacillus cereus incubated for 4 h in a synthetic medium containing chloramphenicol was observed to form cell walls 2 to 3 times as thick as those from control cells growing in the same medium containing no antibiotic. Then the cells were washed and reincubated in fresh synthetic medium and the ultra-structural changes in the thickened walls during cell growth and elongation were examined by electron microscopy. After incubation for 20 min, multiple ruptured sites and internal fractures appeared randomly on the surface of the thickened cell wall. Large and small pieces of thickened wall fragments soon "peeled off" from the surface, leaving behind a deeper layer of wall material. Normal cell growth and elongation resumed after partial removal of the thickened cell wall. After several generations, thickened wall fragments were not observed on the surface of daughter cells.