Summary
The fine structure of the radiation-resistant bacterium, Micrococcus radiodurans, isolated by Anderson, was studied by electron microscopy of intact and disrupted cells using thin sectioning and negative staining techniques. The cytoplasm and nuclear structures are normal, but the cell wall and sheath are more complex than any so far described for a bacterium. The surface consists of four distinct layers, each having a characteristic fine structure, one of which has been tentatively identified as that responsible for maintaining the rigidity of the cells. Striations with a periodicity of 175 to 200 Å are visible in thin sections of this layer, and a pseudo-hexagonal array of dark “holes” is seen in surface view of negatively-stained fragments. It is concluded that this layer is the main structural element of the cell wall of M. radiodurans. The other three layers of the surface have not been clearly located in thin sections; one of these layers has a well-defined pattern of hexagonally arranged units similar to that observed in Spirillum serpens by Murray but with different dimensions.
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Thornley, M.J., Horne, R.W. & Glauert, A.M. The fine structure of micrococcus radiodurans. Archiv. Mikrobiol. 51, 267–289 (1965). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00408143
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00408143