[Immunocytochemistry of Clostridium novyi antigens. Electron microscopic research]

The dynamics of the synthesis, transfer and excretion of toxin in C. novyi, growing in a liquid culture medium, have been studied on the level of bacterial ultrastructure by means of immunoferritin techniques modified by the authors. As revealed in this study, the basic mechanism of toxin excretion is realized by the active transfer of toxin through the enveloping structures after its accumulation in the periplasmatic space. In ageing cultures toxin may also be released in the process of bacteriolysis with the degradation of bacterial structures.