Light and electron microscopic studies of anaerobic curved bacteria isolated from the vagina

Twenty strains of anaerobic curved rods isolated from vaginal secretion were studied with light and transmission electron microscopy. Ten of the strains were of a short (approx. 1.5 microns) Gram-variable type, while ten were of a long (approx. 3 microns) Gram-negative type. The former had one to four flagella and the latter between one and eight. The flagella originated from the concave aspect of the cells. Thin sections of both types of bacteria revealed an approximately 30 nm thick cell wall with no outer membrane, similar to that of most Gram-positive bacteria. An electron-dense zone in the middle of the cell wall, atypical of Gram-positive bacteria, was found, however. Amorphous and electron-translucent cytoplasmic inclusions, not membrane-enclosed, were detected. These inclusions stained metachromatically with Albert's stain.