Cell shape matters across the kingdoms of life, and cells have the remarkable capacity to
define and maintain specific shapes and sizes. But how are the shapes of micron-sized cells …

Bottom-up approaches in creating artificial cells that can mimic natural cells have significant
implications for both basic research and translational application. Among various artificial …

Biopolymer composite cell walls maintain cell shape and resist forces in plants, fungi and
bacteria. Peptidoglycan, a crucial antibiotic target and immunomodulator, performs this role …

Mechanical rupture, or lysis, of the cytoplasmic membrane is a common cell death pathway
in bacteria occurring in response to β-lactam antibiotics. A better understanding of the …

How do mycobacteria divide? Cell division has been studied extensively in the model rod-
shaped bacteria Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis, but much less is understood about …

Maintenance of rod-shape in bacterial cells depends on the actin-like protein MreB. Deletion
of mreB from Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25 results in viable spherical cells of variable …