Mesosomes: membranous bacterial organelles.

Abstract

And is it not true that the comparatively simple act of looking through a microscope presents the eye with pictures that we should all declare fantastic and far-fetched if we happened upon them by chance. .. (Schmidt, 270) Meditation over an electron micrograph of a bacterial cell wall or the endoplasmic reticulum ofa liver cell brings conviction that the position ofsynthesis within the cell must be as important as the chemical synthesis itself. (Gale, 89

The nucleocapsid of bacteriophage phi 6 penetrates the host cytoplasmic membrane.

“…Mesosomes (intracellular membrane structures in bacteria) have been widely described in the literature (reviewed by Greenawalt and Whiteside, 1975), but have in some cases been suggested to be EM artifacts (Parks et al, 1981). In this investigation we describe a functional intracellular membrane structure in Pseudomonas, indicating that the prokaryotic plasma membrane might be more dynamic and have more features in common with eukaryotic membrane systems than previously expected.…”

Characterization of Mesosomes of Micrococcus luteus: Isolation and Properties of Mesosomal Ribosomes, and Localization of Penicillin‐Binding Proteins in Mesosomal Membranes

“…Many functional roles have been proposed for mesosomes. However, biochemical studies using the isolated mesosomes from several gram-positive bacteria refuted the postulated functions such as active sites of respiratory system, redox reaction, phosphorylation and membrane lipid synthesis (11,30). In addition, although the other functional roles such as DNA replication (32,33), peptidoglycan and septum synthesis (8,33), sporulation (1) and production and secretion of exoenzymes (22) have also been proposed for mesosomes, none of these proposals have been biochemically confirmed to be specific for mesosomes.…”

“…Bacterial mesosomes are intracytoplasmic, membranous organelles which take the appearance of vesicular and tubular structures surrounded by the mesosomal sac derived from invagination of the cytoplasmic membranes into the cytoplasm (11,15,30). Although a variety of functions for mesosomes including respiration system, peptidoglycan and membrane syntheses, and production and secretion of exoenzymes, have been proposed (11,30), almost none of these functions have been ascertained biochemically ; mesosomes have been thought by some investigators Nishihara, Okinawa 903-01.…”

Electron Microscopic Demonstration and Isolation of Ribosomes in Mesosomes from Staphylococcus aureus

“…The bacterial mesosome is an internal membranous organelle continuous with the cytoplasmic membrane and displays various configurations in the electron micrographs (5,6). Although many functions have been proposed for the mesosome, little concrete proof has been obtained to support these proposals (6,19).…”

“…The bacterial mesosome is an internal membranous organelle continuous with the cytoplasmic membrane and displays various configurations in the electron micrographs (5,6). Although many functions have been proposed for the mesosome, little concrete proof has been obtained to support these proposals (6,19). While some investigators have considered that mesosomes are artifacts produced by fixation procedures (2)(3)(4), we showed in negative stained cells of Staphylococcus aureus without fixation that mesosomes exhibited complicated or simple tubular features and we supported the view that the mesosomes are real structures but not artificial membranous bodies produced by inadequate fixation (11).…”