Vysotskiĭ V V, Gorshkova V I
Zh Mikrobiol Epidemiol Immunobiol. 1978 Feb(2):86-90.
As revealed, the action of lysozyme on the cells of Clostridium perfringens BP-6K led to the formation of not only typical spheroplasts, but also of cells whose peripheral parts of the cytoplasm were fragmented by membrane component. Small bodies framed by the membrane proper and containing granular and fibrillar components were formed. They were polymorphic in osmium treatment, and had smooth contours in preliminary use of aldehyde fixation. In the latter case a dense lumpy material analogous to the one which fills the periplasmic zone and serves as a rigid wall component formed at the surface of the protoplasm and bodies-fragments. In case of escape of the bodies into the external environment through the perforations in the cell wall the principal mass of the protoplast remains intact. The morphology of the bodies-fragments indicated a principal possibility of their autonomic existence. It is supposed that the phenomenon described could serve as one of the mechanisms of L-cell formation.
