Protoplasts of Bacillus megaterium readily reverted to bacillary form in liquid media and when plated in a soft-agar layer onto the surface of appropriate agar media. Three phases of the reversion sequence could be differentiated by phase contrast microscopy: (i) increase in size of the individual protoplasts, (ii) non oriented division of the protoplasts and (iii) outgrowth of the bacillary fo...

The effects of norepinephrine-induced vasoconstriction on pulmonary extravascular water volume (PEWV) and central volume were studied before and after intravenous volume expansion with 5% dextrose and water (20 ml/kg body weight). PEWV was measured by double isotope dilution and gravimetric analysis and assessed by electron photomicrography. Comparisons were made with saline-treated control dog...

Many species descriptions, especially older ones, consist mostly of text and have few illustrations. Only the most conspicuous morphological features needed for species diagnosis and delimitation at the time of description are illustrated. Such descriptions can quickly become inadequate when new species or characters are discovered. We propose that descriptions should become more data-rich by p...

This image of a cell in early mitosis is the winner of the second prize in the recent Olympus–Current Biology photomicrography competition. It was produced by Alexey Khodjakov at the Wadsworth Center, Albany, New York using lung epithelial cells. This cell was fixed at the earliest stage of mitotic spindle formation, just as the nuclear envelope is dissolving and the clustered chromosomes (stai...