Zarina Akbary

Abstract Rod-shaped bacteria such as Bacillus subtilis achieve their shape by using Rod complexes to synthesize anisotropic peptidoglycan and by limiting isotropic peptidoglycan synthesis by PBP1. Wall teichoic acids are also required for rod shape, but their role is unclear. Here we use single-cell microfluidics and microscopy to show that wall teichoic acids promote rod shape by preventing the formation of nanoscopic pores in the B. subtilis cell wall.

Abstract The bacterial cell wall is a polymeric exoskeleton, composed largely of peptidoglycan, that determines cell size and shape. Two systems synthesize peptidoglycan during the growth of rod-shaped bacteria, which are found pervasively across diverse bacterial taxa: the multi-protein Rod complexes are critical for cell shape because they synthesize anisotropic peptidoglycan oriented along the cell circumference, whereas PBP1 synthesizes isotropic peptidoglycan (Fig. 1A).

Abstract The Gram-positive cell wall is a rigid polysaccharide-peptide network that bears the cell's turgor pressure and confers cell shape. In rod-shaped bacteria, the Rod complex inserts peptidoglycan polymers into the cell wall circumferentially, generating material anisotropy that promotes anisotropic growth. Wall teichoic acids, an abundant, non-load-bearing component of the Gram-positive cell wall, are also essential for rod-shape for unknown reasons.