Surgot M, Barioz C M, Nowicki M, Bornstein N, Fleurette J
Laboratoire National de la Santé, Faculté de Médecine Alexis Carrel, Lyon, France.
Zentralbl Bakteriol Mikrobiol Hyg A. 1988 Jul;269(1):26-33. doi: 10.1016/s0176-6724(88)80081-6.
The ultrastructure of Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 (Philadelphia Strain) was studied by Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) following in vitro and in vivo culture. The results obtained were identical for all the samples tested; the structure belonged to the prokaryotic type, with features consistent with the known structure of Gram-negative rods. A characteristic feature is the loose undulated outer membrane, a peptidoglycan layer which was difficult to visualize and was better seen in lysed bacteria. The outermost layer was stained by ruthenium red for polysaccharides. In guinea-pig lung tissue and in chick embryo yolk sac membranes, the bacteria were more often intracellular in intracytoplasmic ribosome-studded vacuoles.
