Biomaterial Database

Light and scanning-beam electron microscopy of wall-defective Staphylococcus aureus induced by lysostaphin. 1971

C Watanakunakorn, and R J Fass, and A S Klainer, and M Hamburger

The serial morphological changes of Staphylococcus aureus after exposure to lysostaphin (one unit per ml) in hypertonic culture medium containing 5% NaCl were studied over an 8-hr period at 37 C. S. aureus stained gram-negative almost instantaneously upon contact with lysostaphin. Many cells were lysed, but wall-defective staphylococci with corrugated surface were detected as early as 5 min by use of scanning-beam electron microscopy. Wall-defective staphylococci enlarged progressively with increasing periods of incubation. The absorbance of the lysostaphin-treated culture decreased significantly by 2 min, remained stationary for 2 hr, and then progressively increased. The number of vegetative colony-forming units decreased progressively with increasing periods of incubation, whereas the number of L-colony-forming units remained the same.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007740	L Forms	Bacterial variants, unable to form a complete cell wall, which are formed in cultures by various bacteria; granules (L bodies) appear, unite, and grow into amorphous bodies which multiply and give rise to bacterial cells morphologically indistinguishable from the parent strain.
D008248	Lysostaphin	A 25-kDa peptidase produced by Staphylococcus simulans which cleaves a glycine-glcyine bond unique to an inter-peptide cross-bridge of the STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS cell wall.
D008855	Microscopy, Electron, Scanning	Microscopy in which the object is examined directly by an electron beam scanning the specimen point-by-point. The image is constructed by detecting the products of specimen interactions that are projected above the plane of the sample, such as backscattered electrons. Although SCANNING TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY also scans the specimen point by point with the electron beam, the image is constructed by detecting the electrons, or their interaction products that are transmitted through the sample plane, so that is a form of TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY.	Scanning Electron Microscopy,Electron Scanning Microscopy,Electron Microscopies, Scanning,Electron Microscopy, Scanning,Electron Scanning Microscopies,Microscopies, Electron Scanning,Microscopies, Scanning Electron,Microscopy, Electron Scanning,Microscopy, Scanning Electron,Scanning Electron Microscopies,Scanning Microscopies, Electron,Scanning Microscopy, Electron
D008858	Microscopy, Phase-Contrast	A form of interference microscopy in which variations of the refracting index in the object are converted into variations of intensity in the image. This is achieved by the action of a phase plate.	Phase-Contrast Microscopy,Microscopies, Phase-Contrast,Microscopy, Phase Contrast,Phase Contrast Microscopy,Phase-Contrast Microscopies
D009154	Mutation	Any detectable and heritable change in the genetic material that causes a change in the GENOTYPE and which is transmitted to daughter cells and to succeeding generations.	Mutations
D002452	Cell Count	The number of CELLS of a specific kind, usually measured per unit volume or area of sample.	Cell Density,Cell Number,Cell Counts,Cell Densities,Cell Numbers,Count, Cell,Counts, Cell,Densities, Cell,Density, Cell,Number, Cell,Numbers, Cell
D002473	Cell Wall	The outermost layer of a cell in most PLANTS; BACTERIA; FUNGI; and ALGAE. The cell wall is usually a rigid structure that lies external to the CELL MEMBRANE, and provides a protective barrier against physical or chemical agents.	Cell Walls,Wall, Cell,Walls, Cell
D003470	Culture Media	Any liquid or solid preparation made specifically for the growth, storage, or transport of microorganisms or other types of cells. The variety of media that exist allow for the culturing of specific microorganisms and cell types, such as differential media, selective media, test media, and defined media. Solid media consist of liquid media that have been solidified with an agent such as AGAR or GELATIN.	Media, Culture
D000042	Absorption	The physical or physiological processes by which substances, tissue, cells, etc. take up or take in other substances or energy.
D001433	Bacteriolysis	Rupture of bacterial cells due to mechanical force, chemical action, or the lytic growth of BACTERIOPHAGES.	Bacteriolyses