Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy Studies of Colloidal Sulfur Deposition in a Natural Microbial Community from a Cold Sulfide Spring near Ancaster, Ontario, Canada

• Published in: Geomicrobiology journal Vol. 17; no. 4; pp. 275 - 289
• Main Author: Susanne Douglas, Dean D. Douglas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Informa UK Ltd 01.10.2000
• Subjects: Colloidal Sulfur Esem Microbial Community; Canada, Ontario
• ISSN: 0149-0451; 1521-0529
• DOI: 10.1080/01490450050192974

We have used a relatively new microscopical technique, environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM), along with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and light microscopy, to investigate a unique microbial community from a temperate-climate, cold sulfide spring near Ancaster, Ontario, Canada. ESEM allows the viewing of fully hydrated specimens that have not undergone the structural or chemical alterations imposed by the extensive procedures necessary for viewing biological specimens in a vacuum. Besides allowing visualization of microorganisms in their natural form and as intact assemblages, ESEM also detects elements, especially those lighter than Si, which tend to be lost or masked by the processes used to prepare samples for conventional SEM and for TEM thin sections. In this study we report new information about the structure of bacteriogenic sulfur deposits and their relationship to the structural aspects of a natural microbial community from a cold sulfide spring.