Morphological examination of the glycocalyces of Staphylococcus aureus strains Wiley and Smith.

The glycocalyces of gram-positive bacteria have only been studied to a limited extent, with most studies being directed at the elucidation of capsules. With modern methods of electron microscopy, it has been shown that an extensive, diffuse polyanionic matrix surrounds Staphylococcus aureus cells of the Smith and Wiley strains, both in vivo and in modified staphylococcus 110 media. This slime layer was extracapsular in the case of the Smith strain, yet appeared to be the only layer peripheral to the teichoic acid in the Wiley strain. It is proposed that these glycocalyces serve a protective function and that their production is induced not only by excess nutrients in the growth medium but also by metabolic stress.