Cell sorting enriches Escherichia coli mutants that rely on peptidoglycan endopeptidases to suppress highly aberrant morphologies.

ABSTRACT: Bacterial morphology imparts physiological advantages to cells in different environments and, judging by the fidelity with which shape is passed to daughter cells, is a tightly regulated characteristic. Surprisingly, only in the past 10 to 15 years has significant headway been made in identifying the mechanisms by which cells create and maintain particular shapes. One reason for this is that the relevant discoveries have relied heavily on the arduous, somewhat subjective process of manual microscopy. Here, we show that flow cytometry, coupled with the sorting capability of fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), can detect, quantify, and enrich bacteria with morphological alterations. The light scattering properties of several highly aberrant morphological mutants of Escherichia coli w

SUBMITTER: Laubacher ME 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3562112 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature