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Cell wall elongation mode in Gram-negative bacteria is determined by peptidoglycan architecture.

Robert D Turner | Alexander F Hurd | Ashley Cadby | Jamie K Hobbs | Simon J Foster
Nature communications | 2013

Cellular integrity and morphology of most bacteria is maintained by cell wall peptidoglycan, the target of antibiotics essential in modern healthcare. It consists of glycan strands, cross-linked by peptides, whose arrangement determines cell shape, prevents lysis due to turgor pressure and yet remains dynamic to allow insertion of new material, and hence growth. The cellular architecture and insertion pattern of peptidoglycan have remained elusive. Here we determine the peptidoglycan architecture and dynamics during growth in rod-shaped Gram-negative bacteria. Peptidoglycan is made up of circumferentially oriented bands of material interspersed with a more porous network. Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy reveals an unexpected discontinuous, patchy synthesis pattern. We present a consolidated model of growth via architecture-regulated insertion, where we propose only the more porous regions of the peptidoglycan network that are permissive for synthesis.

Pubmed ID: 23422664

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Associated grants

  • Agency: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, United Kingdom
    Id: BB/H011005/1
  • Agency: Wellcome Trust, United Kingdom

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Gwyddion (tool)

RRID:SCR_015583

Modular program for SPM (scanning probe microscopy) data visualization and analysis. Primarily it is intended for the analysis of height fields obtained by scanning probe microscopy techniques (AFM, MFM, STM, SNOM/NSOM) and it supports a lot of SPM data formats. However, it can be used for general height field and (greyscale) image processing, for instance for the analysis of profilometry data or thickness maps from imaging spectrophotometry.

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