394: Skinny Cell Structure Supports

This episode: Not as simple as it sounds—how rod-shaped bacteria
maintain their shape!

Thanks to Dr. Ethan Garner for his contribution!


Download Episode (6.3 MB, 9.2 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Erwinia virus M7

News item

Takeaways
Microbes seem like they should be a lot simpler than large
multicellular organisms, but even what seems like it should be a
simple system in microbes can be surprisingly complex. In this
case, the system bacteria maintaining their particular cell
shape.

Spherical cells have it easier: just add more cell material at
every point. But for rods, they must make the cell longer without
making it wider. How do they accomplish this? Two groups of
proteins work together to help rod-shaped species grow, but how
they work wasn't specifically known.

In this study, it was found that one group of proteins adds more
cell material as it moves around the circumference, while the
other adds structure to the cell that allows it to maintain
shape. The more of these structural proteins present, the thinner
the cell can stay.

Journal Paper:
Dion MF, Kapoor M, Sun Y, Wilson S, Ryan J, Vigouroux A, van
Teeffelen S, Oldenbourg R, Garner EC. 2019. Bacillus subtilis
cell diameter is determined by the opposing actions of two
distinct cell wall synthetic systems. Nat Microbiol 4:1294–1305.


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