Submicroscopical changes in Klebsiella pneumoniae cells treated with concentrated sucrose and polyethylene glycol 400 solutions

This study reports the extent and character of plasmolysis and other morphological changes as shown by electron microscopy in a strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae and with sucrose or polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG-400) as the plasmolysing agent at a water activity of 0.935. Both solutes produced severe plasmolysis in K. pneumoniae cells; PEG-400 also caused some cell wall collapse and finger like extrusions to emerge from the bacterial cell.