J. Bacteriol., Jan 1997, 148-156, Vol 179, No. 1
Copyright © 1997, American Society for Microbiology

Fine-structure evidence for cell membrane partitioning of the nucleoid and cytoplasm during bud formation in Hyphomonas species

PM Zerfas, M Kessel, EJ Quintero and RM Weiner
Department of Microbiology, University of Maryland, College Park 20742, USA.

Hyphomonas spp. reproduce by budding from the tip of the prosthecum, distal to the main body of the reproductive cell; thus, the chromosome must travel through the prosthecum to enter the progeny, the swarm cell. When viewed by electron microscopy, negatively stained whole cells, ultrathin-sectioned cells, and freeze-etched and frozen hydrated cells all had marked swellings of the cytoplasmic membrane (CM) in the prosthecum which are termed pseudovesicles (PV). PV were separated by constrictions in the contiguous CM. In replicating cells, PV housed ribosomes and DNA, which was identified by its fibrillar appearance and by lactoferrin-gold labeling. The micrographs also revealed that the CM bifurcates at the origin of the prosthecum so that one branch partitions the main body of the reproductive cell from the prosthecum and swarm cell. The results of this fine-structure analysis suggest models explaining DNA segregation and the marked asymmetric polarity of the budding reproductive cell.

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