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Lookup NU author(s): Dr David Roberts, Dr Yoshikazu Kawai
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of FEMS.Almost all major classes of bacteria are surrounded by a peptidoglycan cell wall, which is a crucial target for antibiotics. It is now understood that many bacteria can tolerate loss of the cell wall provided that they are in an isotonic environment. Furthermore, in some cases the cells can continue to proliferate in a state known as the L-form. L-form proliferation occurs by an unusual blebbing or tubulation mechanism that is completely independent of the normally essential division machine or cell wall synthetic enzymes, and is resistant to cell wall-active antibiotics. However, the growth is limited by reactive oxygen species generated by the respiratory chain pathway. In this work, we examined the walled to L-form transition in a pathogenic Gram-negative bacterium, Streptobacillus moniliformis, which naturally lacks the respiratory chain pathway, under aerobic conditions. L-form-like cells often emerged spontaneously, but proliferation was not observed unless the cells were treated with cell wall-active antibiotics. Time-lapse imaging revealed that cell division of S. moniliformis L-forms involves unusual membrane dynamics with an apparent imbalance between outer membrane and cytoplasmic volume growth. The results suggest that outer membrane expansion may be an important general factor for L-form proliferation of diderm bacteria.
Author(s): Roberts DM, Errington J, Kawai Y
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: FEMS Microbiology Letters
Year: 2021
Volume: 368
Issue: 21-24
Print publication date: 01/12/2021
Online publication date: 15/12/2021
Acceptance date: 07/12/2021
Date deposited: 24/08/2023
ISSN (print): 0378-1097
ISSN (electronic): 1574-6968
Publisher: Oxford University Press
URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/femsle/fnab156
DOI: 10.1093/femsle/fnab156
PubMed id: 34910142
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