Mechanism of lateral cell-wall expansion at a constant diameter in Bacillus subtilis.

ABSTRACT: In Escherichia coli, lateral cell-wall expansion during growth occurs by cross-linking of new glycan strands to the existing peptidoglycan network. However, it is unclear whether the same mechanism applies to other rod-shaped bacteria. Here, we use cell imaging and mass spectrometry analysis of isotopically labeled peptidoglycan to study this process in the Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis. We show that new glycan strands are cross-linked exclusively to other newly synthesized glycan chains, and not to the existing peptidoglycan network. We propose that new peptidoglycan meshes, assembled at the membrane surface, impose a shift on older meshes toward the bacterial surface, where they sustain the cytoplasmic turgor pressure, before their eventual degradation. This outward movement

SUBMITTER: Liang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12276332 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature