Fimbriation of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans

Presence of fimbriae on a bacterium may promote its initial colonization, survival and ability of tissue penetration. Thus, electron microscopy was performed on negatively stained periodontal Actinobacullus actinomycetemcomitans from a patient with Papillon‐Lefevre syndrome. The isolates were, in contrast to reference strains found to carry a considerable amount of fimbriae (5 nm in diameter). The presence of fimbriae may support the hypothesis of the invasive ability of this bacterium.