cell shape
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyMolecular Basis and Ecological Relevance of Caulobacter Cell Filamentation in Freshwater HabitatsMany bacteria drastically change their cell size and morphology in response to changing environmental conditions. Here, we demonstrate that the freshwater bacterium Caulobacter crescentus and related species transform into filamentous cells in response to conditions that commonly occur in their natural habitat as a result of algal blooms during the warm summer months...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyA Vibrio cholerae BolA-Like Protein Is Required for Proper Cell Shape and Cell Envelope IntegrityBolA-like proteins are conserved across prokaryotes and eukaryotes. These proteins have been linked to a variety of phenotypes, but the pathways and mechanisms through which they act have not been extensively characterized. Here, we unraveled the role of the BolA-like protein IbaG in the cholera pathogen Vibrio cholerae. The absence of IbaG was associated with...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyCardiolipin Alters Rhodobacter sphaeroides Cell Shape by Affecting Peptidoglycan Precursor BiosynthesisThe phospholipid composition of the cell membrane influences the spatial and temporal biochemistry of cells. We studied molecular mechanisms connecting membrane composition to cell morphology in the model bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides. The peptidoglycan (PG) layer of the cell wall is a dominant component of cell mechanical properties; consequently, it has been an...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyMreB Forms Subdiffraction Nanofilaments during Active Growth in Bacillus subtilisThe construction of the bacterial cell envelope is a fundamental topic, as it confers its integrity to bacteria and is consequently the target of numerous antibiotics. MreB is an essential protein suspected to regulate the cell wall synthetic machineries. Despite two decades of study, its localization remains the subject of controversies, its description ranging from helical filaments spanning the entire cell to small discrete entities...