SKM 2023 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 6: Bacterial Mechanics
BP 6.4: Talk
Monday, March 27, 2023, 15:45–16:00, BAR 0106
Mechanical strain sensing and growth of rod-shaped Escherichia coli independent of cell wall synthesis — •Lars Renner1, Felix Wong2, Ariel Amir2, Yuki Kitahara3, and Sven van Teeffelen3 — 1Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research, Dresden — 2Harvard University, Cambridge, USA — 3Universite de Montreal, Canada
One of the central questions in bacterial cell biology is how specific shapes evolved and are maintained. It is remarkable how bacteria can precisely control the cellular processes regulating cell shape. However, many of the underlying biophysical cues are largely unknown. We set out to understand how mechanical stress affects rod-shape maintenance. Specifically, we combine microfabrication tools and mathematical modelling to identify a stress-based mechanism that regulates shape in rods. We then examined the influence of the biomolecular machinery that builds the cell wall and found that rod-shaped cells retain the ability to expand their envelopes differentially in response to locally varying mechanical forces. Thus, cell-wall cleaving enzymes appear to represent an alternative pathway for coupling cell envelope growth to mechanical forces that is distinct from cell wall insertion.