L form bacteria growth in low-osmolality medium.

ABSTRACT: L form bacteria do not have a cell wall and are thought to require medium of high osmolality for survival and growth. In this study we tested whether L forms can adapt to growth in lower osmolality medium. We first tested the Escherichia coli L form NC-7, generated in 1987 by Onoda following heavy mutagenesis. We started with growth in osmoprotective medium (~ 764 mOsm kg^-1) and diluted it stepwise into medium of lower osmolality. At each step the cells were given up to 10 days to adapt and begin growing, during which they apparently acquired multiple new mutations. We eventually obtained a strain that could grow in LB containing only 34 mM NaCl, 137 mOsm kg^-1 total. NC-7 showed a variety of morphologies including spherical, angular and cylindrical cells. Some cells e

SUBMITTER: Osawa M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7008213 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature