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Journal of Bacteriology, July 2004, p. 4382-4386, Vol. 186, No. 13
0021-9193/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.186.13.4382-4386.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Spike Structure at the Interface between Gliding Mycoplasma mobile Cells and Glass Surfaces Visualized by Rapid-Freeze-and-Fracture Electron Microscopy

Makoto Miyata1,2* and Jennifer D. Petersen3,{dagger}

Department of Biology, Graduate School of Science, Osaka City University,1 PRESTO, JST, Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka 558-8585, Japan,2 Laboratory of Neurobiology, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 208923

Received 2 December 2003/ Accepted 29 March 2004

Mycoplasma mobile is a flask-shaped bacteria that binds to a substrate and glides towards its tapered end, the so-called "head-like protrusion," by an unknown mechanism. To search for cellular structures underlying this motility, the cell-substrate interface of actively gliding cells was visualized by rapid-freeze-and-freeze-fracture rotary-shadow electron microscopy. Novel structures, called "spikes," were observed to protrude from the cell membrane and attach to the glass surface at their distal end. The spikes were on average 50 nm in length and 4 nm in diameter, most abundant around the head, and not observed in a nonbinding mutant. The spikes may be involved in the mechanism of binding, gliding, or both.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biology, Graduate School of Science, Osaka City University, Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka 558-8585, Japan. Phone: 81(6)6605 3157. Fax: 81(6)6605 3158. E-mail: miyata{at}sci.osaka-cu.ac.jp.

{dagger} Present address: Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology, Oregon Health and Sciences University, Portland, OR 97239.

Journal of Bacteriology, July 2004, p. 4382-4386, Vol. 186, No. 13
0021-9193/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.186.13.4382-4386.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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