CHAPTER 



1 



ISOLATION AND GENERAL 

 PROPERTIES OF 

 MICROBIAL CELL WALLS 



Microbial anatomy, that specialized branch of the study 

 of the structure of microorganisms, has emerged in the last 

 ten to twenty years and has gieatly attracted the attention 

 of the biochemist and the biophysicist. There are very good 

 reasons for distinguishing between the cytologists of former 

 periods and the modern microbial anatomists, for the latter 

 now have to attempt to explain their observations in terms 

 of the biochemical functions of the cell and the molecular 

 structures of cellular subunits. 



Our interest in microbial cell structure has, of course, a 

 long history and really stems from Antonie van Leeuwen- 

 hoek's observations on the shapes and forms of various 

 microorganisms. Just as Leeuwenhoek's microscope re- 

 vealed a new and exciting world of small "animalcules," so 

 in our day the electron microscope with all its associated 

 techniques has taken us inside the cell itself and revealed 

 many fascinating details of the macromolecular complexity 

 of living organisms. Thus in the last two decades a great 



1 



