Abstract

In this study, we incubated four strains of Shigella in seawater microcosms (at room temperature and at 4°C) for eight months and we studied the alteration of their morphologic and outer membranes proteins. The starved cells showed an evolution to the filterable minicells state capable to pass membrane pore size 0.45 µm. In addition, the atomic force micrographs showed a reduction of the cells size and an evolution to coccoid-shapes. Outer membrane proteins patterns of stressed bacteria did not changed too much and these modifications were manifested by the appearance of one new band.

Key words: Shigella, seawater, starvation, morphological, outer membrane proteins.