Ultrastructure of bacteroides species: Bacteroides asaccharolyticus, bacteroides fragilis, bacteroides melaninogenicus subspecies melaninogenicus, and B. melaninogenicus subspecies intermedins

Representative strains of two subspecies of Bacteroides melaninogenicus (subspecies melaninogenicus and subspecies intermedins) and Bacteroides asaccharolyticus as well as B. asaccharolyticus strain 536B isolated from a human perirectal abscess and Bacteroides fragilis ATCC 25285 were examined by glutaraldehyde-osmium fixation, ruthenium red fixation and staining, and thorium hydroxide staining as well as by the physical preparative techniques of critical point drying-transmission electron microscopy (CPD-TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). All strains, with the exception of B. fragilis 25285, possessed an electron-dense material external to their outer membranes. Ruthenium red staining further revealed a layer, external to the surface of the outer membrane, that was distinct for each species examined. Thorium hydroxide, as well as CPD-TEM and SEM, showed the cells to be interconnected by thin fibers that not only connected adjacent cells but also traversed several microns to connect cell aggregates.