Abstract
Purified Rickettsia prowazeki were found to undergo morphological changes resembling plasmolysis when stained with uranyl acetate, resulting in rod-like forms. Sequential electron micrographs of disintegrating organisms provide evidence for the cell wall origin of these rod-like forms. The substructure of the cell wall was discerned by using negative-contrast electron microscopy. The wall was found to be composed of repetitive subunits with a periodicity of 13 nm and was surrounded by a thin membrane.
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