Electron Microscopy of the Fine Structure of Corynebacterium Diphtheriae, With Special Reference to the Intracytoplasmic Membrane System

Although there have been a number of cytochemical observations made on Corynebacterium diphtheriae, especially on the metachromatic granules, only a few electron microscope studies on sections of the organism have been published (Takagi et al.(1), Toda et al.(2) and Hiraki( 3)) .In these earlier works the nuclear apparatus was found as a cord-like and granular structure.Recently, Kellenberger and his coworkers(4,5) have developed a method of fixation for electron microscopy to preserve the fine structure of bacteria.Applying their technique, several investigators have shown that the bacterial nuclei appear to consist of fine-stranded fibrils in a matrix of low density, and in some bacteria the cytoplasm contains the intracytoplasmic membrane system.The present study, using the improved fixation for sectioning and an electron microscope possessing a high resolving power, will offer new findings on the fine structure of C. diphtheriae, particularly on the membranous organelle in the cytoplasm.