Affiliation:
1. Laboratory of Morphology of Microorganisms and Electron Microscopy, Gamaleya Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Academy of Medical Sciences, Moscow, USSR
Abstract
Avakyan
, A. A. (Academy of Medical Sciences, Moscow, USSR), L. N.
Katz, K. N. Levina, and I. B. Pavlova
. Structure and composition of the
Bacillus anthracis
capsule. J. Bacteriol.
90:
1082–1095. 1965.—Observations by various methods of light microscopy (phase contrast, dark-field, and fluorescence) revealed the complex structure of the
Bacillus anthracis
capsule, which changes regularly during the growth cycle of the culture. Special cytological methods of staining the capsule made it possible to study its fine structure, which is not revealed by negative staining with India ink. For example, the capsule shows a membranelike outline, fine transverse lines, and interruptions and transverse septa traversing the entire capsule. By using cytochemical methods, it was found that the capsule has a stratified structure and that the various layers of the capsule differ as to the value of the isoelectric point, metachromatic ability, sensitivity to various enzymes, and, consequently, chemical composition. It was thus shown that the membranelike outline of the capsule consists of peptides and neutral mucopolysaccharides. The middle part of the capsule consists of a complex of substances of both polysaccharide and protein nature, and the inner part consists of acid mucopolysaccharides. Observation of the capsular forms of
B. anthracis
by means of an electron microscope revealed differences in the osmiophilia and submicroscopic structure of the membranelike outline and the middle and inner parts of the capsule. Immunochemical studies conducted by the fluorescent-antibody method revealed localization of antigens in different parts of the capsule, and made it possible to differentiate the capsular antigens according to their serum-staining ability and according of their relations to enzymes, i.e., their chemical composition. This paper concerns the possibility of studying the fine structure of bacterial capsules in fixed preparations, and the differences and similarities of the antigens of the capsule and cell wall of
B. anthracis
and of the related species,
B. megaterium
.
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Subject
Molecular Biology,Microbiology
Cited by
13 articles.
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