[The ultrastructural characteristics of the causative agent of melioidosis and its interaction with phagocytes in vivo].

The electron microscopic studies have established that the virulent strain of Pseudomonas pseudomallei C-141, an agent of melioidosis, being intraperitoneally administered to guinea pigs, forms in vivo three morphological variants. One variant is capsule-free, while two others have a capsule which in the second variant may be referred by its characters to the microcapsule and in the third one to the macrocapsule. It has been shown that under the interaction of these three morphological variants with the microorganism cells the bacteria of the first and second variants are absorbed by phagocytes, whereas the microbial cells of the third morphological variant are more resistant to the phagocytosis.