This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Gullbrand, B.
Right arrow Articles by Nordström, K.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Gullbrand, B.
Right arrow Articles by Nordström, K.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

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.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Slayden, R. A., Belisle, J. T. (2009). Morphological features and signature gene response elicited by inactivation of FtsI in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. J Antimicrob Chemother 63: 451-457 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Hett, E. C., Rubin, E. J. (2008). Bacterial Growth and Cell Division: a Mycobacterial Perspective. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 72: 126-156 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Carballido-Lopez, R. (2006). The Bacterial Actin-Like Cytoskeleton. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 70: 888-909 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Zaritsky, A., Woldringh, C. L., Einav, M., Alexeeva, S. (2006). Use of thymine limitation and thymine starvation to study bacterial physiology and cytology.. J. Bacteriol. 188: 1667-1679 [Full Text]  
  • Scheffers, D.-J., Pinho, M. G. (2005). Bacterial Cell Wall Synthesis: New Insights from Localization Studies. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 69: 585-607 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Wagner, J. K., Galvani, C. D., Brun, Y. V. (2005). Caulobacter crescentus Requires RodA and MreB for Stalk Synthesis and Prevention of Ectopic Pole Formation. J. Bacteriol. 187: 544-553 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Rothfield, L. (2003). New Insights into the Developmental History of the Bacterial Cell Division Site. J. Bacteriol. 185: 1125-1127 [Full Text]  
  • de Pedro, M. A., Young, K. D., Holtje, J.-V., Schwarz, H. (2003). Branching of Escherichia coli Cells Arises from Multiple Sites of Inert Peptidoglycan. J. Bacteriol. 185: 1147-1152 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Yu, X.-C., Margolin, W. (2000). Deletion of the min Operon Results in Increased Thermosensitivity of an ftsZ84 Mutant and Abnormal FtsZ Ring Assembly, Placement, and Disassembly. J. Bacteriol. 182: 6203-6213 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Nelson, D. E., Young, K. D. (2000). Penicillin Binding Protein 5 Affects Cell Diameter, Contour, and Morphology of Escherichia coli. J. Bacteriol. 182: 1714-1721 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»