It has long been appreciated that the Gram-negative outer membrane acts as a permeability
barrier, but recent studies have uncovered a more expansive and versatile role for the outer …

Bacteria possess an extraordinary repertoire of cell envelope glycans that have critical
physiological functions. Pathogenic bacteria have glycans that are essential for growth and …

How bacteria grow and divide while retaining a defined shape is a fundamental question in
microbiology, but technological advances are now driving a new understanding of how the …

Bacterial growth is controlled by the peptidoglycan (PG) cell wall, a rigid and essential
structure composed of glycan strands cross-linked by d-amino acid (DAA)-containing short …

Fluorophores have transformed the way we study biological systems, enabling non-invasive
studies in cells and intact organisms, which increase our understanding of complex …

Bacteria display an abundance of cellular forms and can change shape during their life
cycle. Many plausible models regarding the functional significance of cell morphology have …

To withstand the high intracellular pressure, the cell wall of most bacteria is stabilized by a
unique cross-linked biopolymer called murein or peptidoglycan. It is made of glycan strands …

Why do bacteria have shape? Is morphology valuable or just a trivial secondary
characteristic? Why should bacteria have one shape instead of another? Three broad …

Fluorescent d-amino acids (FDAAs) are efficiently incorporated into the peptidoglycans
(PGs) of diverse bacterial species at the sites of PG biosynthesis, allowing specific and …

The d-enantiomers of amino acids have been thought to have relatively minor functions in
biological processes. While l-amino acids clearly predominate in nature, d-amino acids are …