Comparative ultrastructure of selected oral streptococci: thin-sectioning and freeze-etching studies.

The ultrastructure of Streptococcus mutans, serotypes a-e, S. sanguis, S. mitis, and S. salivarius HHT, were examined by the techniques of thin-sectioning and freeze-etching. The cell walls varied in width between 15 and 46 nm and were covered with an electron-dense fibrillar or fuzz layer. The cytoplasmic membrane was in close association with numerous mesosomes which were, in turn, either closely associated or in contact with the bacterial chromosome. In freeze-etch replicas, the outermost layer of the cell wall was fibrous, and the cytoplasmic membrane was covered with particles composed of several subunits. Both particle-clusters and particle-free areas occurred on the surfaces of the cytoplasmic membrane, as well as a crystalline array in the ground plasm of the cell.