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. 1970 Jan;101(1):297–303. doi: 10.1128/jb.101.1.297-303.1970

Ultrastructure of the Cell Envelope of Escherichia coli B After Freeze-Etching

N Nanninga 1
PMCID: PMC250481  PMID: 4904237

Abstract

The cell envelope of Escherichia coli B was investigated with the freeze-etching technique. A considerable gain in visible structural detail over more conventional electron microscopic techniques was obtained. The inner surface of the plasma membrane revealed a smooth surface sparsely studded with particles measuring from 5 to 10 nm in diameter, whereas the outer surface of the plasma membrane showed many more particles of corresponding diameter. The freeze-etched cell wall appeared to be a multilayered structure. The innermost layer could be observed as a profile studded with closely packed elements of about 10 nm in diameter. External to this layer was a smooth surface bordering the outermost cell wall layer. When frozen in the absence of glycerol the outermost surface observed in the cell wall was smooth, but when grown in the presence of glycerol it had a “wavy” appearance with small particles attached to it. The observations support current concepts on the ultrastructure of the enterobacterial cell envelope.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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