Bacterial flagellar motor distribution, cell shape, and growth

Chien-Jung Lo^1*

¹Physics, National Central University, Taoyuan, Taiwan

* Presenter:Chien-Jung Lo, email:cjlo@phy.ncu.edu.tw

Most bacterial species tightly regulate their shape and size. The bacterial cell shape is maintained by cell wall geometry. The dynamic assembly of the cell wall is key to the maintenance of cell shape during bacterial growth. Here, we present a method for the analysis of Escherichia coli cell wall growth at high spatial and temporal resolution, which is achieved by tracing the movement of fluorescently labeled cell wall-anchored flagellar motors. Using this method, we clearly identify the active and inert zones of cell wall growth during bacterial elongation. Within the active zone, the insertion of newly synthesized peptidoglycan occurs homogeneously in the axial direction without twisting of the cell body. Based on the measured parameters, we formulate a Bernoulli shift map model to predict the partitioning of cell wall-anchored proteins, the bacterial flagellar motors, following cell division.

Keywords: Bacterial flagellar motor, Cell wall growth, Cell shape