Fine Structure of Rickettsia quintana Cultivated In Vitro and in the Louse

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Abstract
Usually rod-shpaed, R. quintana cells measure about 0.2 to 0.5 u wide and up to 1.6 [mu] long. The rickettsiae have both on outer cell wall, about 80 A thick, and a plasma membrane, about 70 A thick, each of which is trilaminar. Occasional vesicular imaginations of the plasma membrane occur. The nuclear material, distributed in irregular zones throughout the cytoplasm, appears as a loose network of fine fibrils when postfixed with uranyl-acetate and as thick strands or clumps after routine OsO4 fixation. The cytoplasm is densely packed with numerous granules, presumably ribosomes, about 150 A in diameter. Histochemical studies revealed the presence of both ribo-nucleic- and deoxyribonucleic-acids. During binary fission, a constricting furrow is formed by the cell wall and plasmaemma. No difference in fine structure was observed between R. quintana propagated on cell-free media and in the louse.

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