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Journal of Bacteriology, November 1999, p. 6607-6614, Vol. 181, No. 21
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

On the Origin of Branches in Escherichia coli

Björn Gullbrand,1 Thomas Åkerlund,2 and Kurt Nordström1,*

Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Biomedical Center, Uppsala University, S-751 24, Uppsala,1 and Department of Bacteriology, Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, S-171 82, Solna,2 Sweden

Received 14 April 1999/Accepted 26 July 1999

Some Escherichia coli strains with impaired cell division form branched cells at high frequencies during certain growth conditions. Here, we show that neither FtsI nor FtsZ activity is required for the development of branches. Buds did not form at specific positions along the cell surface during high-branching conditions. Antibiotics affecting cell wall synthesis had a positive effect on branch formation in the case of ampicillin, cephalexin, and penicillin G, whereas mecillinam and D-cycloserine had no substantial effect. Altering the cell morphology by nutritional shifts showed that changes in morphology preceded branching, indicating that the cell's physiological state rather than specific medium components induced branching. Finally, there was no increased probability for bud formation in the daughters of a cell with a bud or branch, showing that bud formation is a random event. We suggest that branch formation is caused by abnormalities in cell wall elongation rather than by aberrant cell division events.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Biomedical Center, Uppsala University, Box 596, S-751 24, Uppsala, Sweden. Phone: (46) 18-4714526. Fax: (46) 18-530396. E-mail: Kurt.Nordstrom{at}icm.uu.se.

Journal of Bacteriology, November 1999, p. 6607-6614, Vol. 181, No. 21
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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