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Journal of Bacteriology, April 2009, p. 2077-2082, Vol. 191, No. 7
0021-9193/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.01333-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Three-Dimensional Macromolecular Organization of Cryofixed Myxococcus xanthus Biofilms as Revealed by Electron Microscopic Tomography {triangledown} ,{dagger}

Hildur Palsdottir,1 Jonathan P. Remis,1 Christoph Schaudinn,2 Eileen O'Toole,3 Renate Lux,4 Wenyuan Shi,4 Kent L. McDonald,5 J. William Costerton,2 and Manfred Auer1*

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720,1 Center for Biofilms, School of Dentistry, University of Southern California, 925 West 34th Street, Los Angeles California 90089,2 Boulder Laboratory for 3D Electron Microscopy of Cells, Dept. MCD Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309,3 UCLA School of Dentistry, 10833 Le Conte Avenue, Los, Angeles, California 90095-1668,4 Electron Microscope Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California5

Received 23 September 2008/ Accepted 12 January 2009

Despite the fact that most bacteria grow in biofilms in natural and pathogenic ecosystems, very little is known about the ultrastructure of their component cells or about the details of their community architecture. We used high-pressure freezing and freeze-substitution to minimize the artifacts of chemical fixation, sample aggregation, and sample extraction. As a further innovation we have, for the first time in biofilm research, used electron tomography and three-dimensional (3D) visualization to better resolve the macromolecular 3D ultrastructure of a biofilm. This combination of superb specimen preparation and greatly improved resolution in the z axis has opened a window in studies of Myxococcus xanthus cell ultrastructure and biofilm community architecture. New structural information on the chromatin body, cytoplasmic organization, membrane apposition between adjacent cells, and structure and distribution of pili and vesicles in the biofilm matrix is presented.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720. Phone: (510) 486-7702. Fax: (510) 486-6488. E-mail: MAuer{at}lbl.gov

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 23 January 2009.

{dagger} This paper is dedicated to the memory of Terry Beveridge, whose recent and untimely death robbed this field of one of its most perceptive and competent researchers.

Journal of Bacteriology, April 2009, p. 2077-2082, Vol. 191, No. 7
0021-9193/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.01333-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Black, W. P., Xu, Q., Cadieux, C. L., Suh, S.-J., Shi, W., Yang, Z. (2009). Isolation and characterization of a suppressor mutation that restores Myxococcus xanthus exopolysaccharide production. Microbiology 155: 3599-3610 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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