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Updated: Jul 21, 2026

A Method for Obtaining Serial Ultrathin Sections of Microorganisms in Transmission Electron Microscopy
Published on: January 17, 2018
Immunoelectron microscopic studies indicate the existence of a cell shape preserving cytoskeleton in prokaryotes
1Institut für Mikrobiologie und Genetik, Abteilung Strukturelle Mikrobiologie, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany.
Abstract:
Immunoelectron microscopic studies of prokaryotes were performed with anti-actin antibodies directed against the C terminus of actin. Studies on ultrathin sections revealed high proportions of the overall label close to the cell periphery in Escherichia coli, Ralstonia eutropha, Thermoanaerobacterium thermosulfurigenes, T. thermosaccharolyticum, and Methanococcus jannaschii. Substantial label also in the cytoplasm was observed in Bacillus sp., Methanococcus voltae, and Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum. Only very minor amounts of label were found in the nucleoid region of the cells. Whole-mount immunogold studies, combined with negative staining, revealed the existence of an intracellular network of fibrils which could be labeled by anti-actin antibodies. This network is assumed to be located below the cytoplasmic membrane all around the cytoplasm. It appears to have properties that would allow its function as a cytoskeleton-like structure preserving cell shape.
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