Penetration of the unwounded immature mouse cornea and conjunctiva by Pseudomonas: SEM-TEM analysis.

Scanning and transmission electron microscopy were used to study the early ocular response to infection by Pseudomonas aeruginosa inoculated under the fused eyelids of immature mice. In the absence of experimental corneal wounding, the organisms produced lysis of the epithelium of the peripheral cornea and conjunctiva and penetrated and lysed the respective stromas as early as 15 min after inoculation. Bacteria were infrequently detected on the ocular surface at 3 hr after infection. At this time, corneal epithelial cells in the vicinity of the inoculation were markedly shrunken.