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PubMed · 8607879

Pit structure on bacterial cell surface.

T Hisano·N Kimura·W Hashimoto·K Murata
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Abstract

The yellow-pigmented bacterium isolated from a ditch was a gram negative rod with a G+C content of 63 mol%, and was classified in the genus Sphingomonas. Electron microscopy revealed that the bacterial cell surface was covered with many large plaits. When grown in a medium containing a polysaccharide as an essential nutrient, a pit of 0.02-0.1 micrometers in diameter was formed on the cell surface, and a thin section showed the rearrangement of the plaits and the presence of a region where the cell membrane sinks into the cytosol. The dependence of the pit formation on the presence of macromolecule may predict the existence of a direct uptake mechanism for macromolecules through a mouth-like pit, possibly in endocytosis fashion. The confirmation of the pit structure is the first such finding in the history of microbiology and may provide a new insight into the cell morphology and biochemistry of macromolecule transport in microbial cell system.

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AlginatesCell MembraneCoated Pits, Cell-MembraneGlucuronic AcidGram-Negative BacteriaHexuronic AcidsMicroscopy, ElectronSpecies SpecificityComparative StudyJournal Article

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T Hisano, N Kimura, W Hashimoto, K Murata. 1996-03-27. Pit structure on bacterial cell surface.. https://doi.org/10.1006/bbrc.1996.0526

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