ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the morphology of chlamydiae and explains the significance of the structure to events in the multiplication of chlamydiae, as revealed mainly by electron microscopy. The information obtained from several strains is compared with the morphology of the other chlamydiae at many points. Electron microscopy has had a great impact on understanding of chlamydial morphology. The introduction of epoxy or polyester resin for thin sectioning made a great improvement in the preservation of chlamydial bodies and host cells. Chlamydial bodies of chlamydiae trachomatis strains show very active, rapid movement in their inclusions. There is no difference in the essential organization between reticulate body (RB) of chlamydiae psittaci and C. trachomatis strains as seen by electron microscopy. Each RB is surrounded with two trilaminar membranes, cell wall, and cytoplasmic membranes, which possess an identical thickness in thin sections. RB cell walls can also be recovered in high purity from purified RBs by an SDS treatment and differential centrifugation.
