Mesosome-like Structures in Cryptococcus neoformans Studied by Chemical Fixation and by the Freeze-etching Technique

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

The general features of Cryptococcus neoformans, a pathogenic yeast, have been studied with the electron microscope. In the course of such a study it was noted that the plasma membrane of C. neoformans, occasionally invaginated into the cytoplasm and formed membranous organelles which resembled bacterial mesosomes. The present investigation was undertaken in order to examine such structures in detail and to compare the results from chemical fixation with those of freeze-etching. Cells were grown in Sabouraud's agar at 25-27° C for 24-48 hr and fixed with 4% glutaraldehyde in 0.15 M phosphate (Sbrensen's) buffer, at room temperature, for 2 hr; after being thoroughly washed in the buffer and post-fixed in osmium tetroxide, in the same buffer, they were dehydrated in ethyl alcohol and embedded in Epon. Thin sections were cut in a LKB microtome, double stained with uranyl and lead salts and examined in the Siemens Elmiskop IA.