Electron microscopy of legionella and legionella-infected cells

Abstract

Those investigators who study the morphology of Legionella and Legionella-infected cells have greatly benefited from the superior resolution afforded by electron microscopy (EM). It can also be said with confidence that EM will continue to reveal as yet to be discovered features of this fascinating intracellular pathogen. In this chapter we detail our practical experience in the application of three transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques to the study of Legionella: conventional ultrastructural analysis, immuno-gold labeling, and negative staining. Each of these techniques has particular, well-defined applications, which are discussed in the context of our in-house developed methods. We invite researchers to try the methods given here in the study of Legionella, and adopt TEM as part of their research tools arsenal. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York.