RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 Silva, Manuel T. A1 Macedo, Paula M.YR 1984 T1 Ultrastructural Characterization of Normal and Damaged Membranes of Mycobacterium leprae and of Cultivable Mycobacteria JF Microbiology, VO 130 IS 2 SP 369 OP 380 DO https://doi.org/10.1099/00221287-130-2-369 PB Microbiology Society, SN 1465-2080, AB Microdensitometry showed that the membrane profiles of normal cultivable mycobacteria were very asymmetric (outer layer denser and thicker than the inner layer), while the profiles of normal-looking M. leprae in lepromatous patients, in experimentally infected armadillos and in nude mice were approximately symmetric; moreover, the membrane of M. leprae was thicker than that of cultivable species. Using two cytochemical methods for the ultrastructural detection of periodic acid-Schiff (PAS)-positive molecules (the Thiry procedure, and staining with phosphotungstic acid at low pH) we found that the membrane of cultivable mycobacteria, growing in vitro or in vivo, had PAS-positive components exclusively in the outer layer, while the normal-looking M. leprae in patients and in armadillos had membranes with PAS-positive components in both layers. The membranes of damaged cultivable mycobacteria, in vivo or in vitro, and of damaged M. leprae, in patients or armadillos, were PAS-negative., UL https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-130-2-369