Scanning Electron Microscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy of Mollicutes: Challenges and Opportunities

Electron Microscopy (EM) is an important viewing technique for the study of microorganisms. More specifically, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) are extremely useful tools for the ultrastructural examination of prokaryotic cells as well as for the study of the interaction between bacterial pathogens and host cells. Perhaps one of the most interesting microbes to study are the mollicutes, also known by their trivial name mycoplasmas. The name mollicutes means softskin organisms indicating that these microbes lack a rigid cell wall. Mollicutes are particularly difficult to handle for SEM and TEM investigation because their cell body can be easily deformed and their cytoplasmic membranes can rupture when subjected to the numerous specimen preparation steps required for SEM and TEM investigation. This paper describes the challenges and opportunities of studying softskin microorganisms with EM techniques.