Ultrastructural effect of penicillin and cycloheximide onChlamydia trachomatis strain HAR-13

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Abstract
The effect of cycloheximide and penicillin on the ultrastructural morphology ofC. trachomatis strain HAR-13 was examined by electron microscopy. HAR-13 infected McCoy cells were either treated with cycloheximide (1Μg/ml) or cycloheximide (1Μg/ml) plus penicillin G (100 U/ml). The studies revealed that cycloheximide alone induced no morphological alterations into the ultrastructure of HAR-13. Both HAR-13 developmental forms, the elementary body and reticulate body, were present inside the treated McCoy cells. The elementary bodies contained the central dense nucleoid and were about 0.3Μm in diameter, while the reticulate bodies were of typical gram negative bacterial morphology and were from 0.5–1.0Μm in diameter. Cycloheximide in combined treatment with penicillin produced giant, swollen reticulate bodies that were 2–4Μm in diameter and in some cases vacuolated. Elementary bodies were noticeably absent. These results indicate that cycloheximide does not alter the morphology of HAR-13. This system is a useful model for studying the ultrastructural morphology ofC. trachomatis strain HAR-13.