[Ultrastructural organization of marine luminescent bacteria and their mutants]

The aim of this work was to study the submicroscopic organization of luminescent bacteria belonging to the genera Photobacterium and Lucibacterium as well as that of their "dark" mutants incapable of luminescence. The ultrastructural organization of all studied bacteria is typical of gram-negative species. The luminescent bacteria are characterized by the presence, in their cytoplasm, of osmophilic formations 22--110 nm in size. The cells of "dark" mutants accumulate volutin and contain complex membrane systems which are related to decelerated growth of the cultures.