01849nas a2200361   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001200055653001800067653001400085653001100099653002200110653001600132653001100148653001200159653000900171653002900180653002500209653003100234653002400265100001500289700001400304700001200318700001400330700001200344700002400356700001800380245010200398300001000500490000800510520095500518022001401473       1979                            d  c1979 May10aAnimals10aCell Membrane10aCell Wall10aFemale10aFreeze Fracturing10aGlycolipids10aHumans10aleprosy10aMice10aMycobacterium Infections10aMycobacterium leprae10aMycobacterium lepraemurium10aSpecies Specificity1 aNguyen H T1 aTrach D D1 aMan N V1 aNgoan T H1 aDunia I1 aLudosky-Diawara M A1 aBenedetti E L00aComparative ultrastructure of Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepraemurium cell envelopes.  a552-80 v1383 a<p>The structural properties of the cell envelopes of Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepraemurium were investigated by freeze-fracture, freeze-etching, and negative-staining techniques. Freeze-fracture split the cell wall and exposed the internal features of the peptidoglycolipid mycosidic filamentous network. The cell membrane was also split into two asymmetric faces. The external fracture face was characterized by linear arrays of intramembranous particles, whereas the protoplasmic fracture face showed randomly distributed clusters of particulate entities. Comparative analysis of the ultrastructural features observed in M. leprae and M. lepraemurium indicated that the organization of the cell envelope in these two species differed particularly with respect to the amount and complexity of the superficial peptidoglycolipid and mycosidic integument, which is poorly developed in the mycobacterium responsible for human disease.</p>  a0021-9193