Electron microscopy of a strain of Bordetella bronchiseptica.

A strain of Bordetella bronchiseptica that had been isolated from a rat hepatoma cell culture was investigated by means of electron microscopy. Bacteria were examined after (i) negative staining with phosphotungstate or uranyl acetate, (ii) metal shadowing with platinum-palladium, and (iii) fixation with glutaraldehyde followed by embedding, sectioning, and staining. The multilayered bacterial cell walls appeared lobulated in negatively stained and in metal-shadowed specimens; the lobules were demarcated by grooves, 100 to 200 A in width, but without interruption of continuity in any layer of the cell wall. Cross sections of fixed material revealed wrinkled cell walls in many-but not all-preparations. Bacterial cell membranes and cytoplasm were similar to those of other gram-negative bacilli (e.g., Escherichia coli). Bacteria fixed in 1.5% glutaraldehyde contained intertwined or whorled fibrils, down to about 20 A in thickness. The flagella were peritrichous, measured about 200 A in width, and were composed of braided strands, about 20 A in width.