Staying in Shape: the Impact of Cell Shape on Bacterial Survival in Diverse Environments
Open Access
- 1 March 2016
- journal article
- review article
- Published by American Society for Microbiology in Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews
- Vol. 80 (1), 187-203
- https://doi.org/10.1128/mmbr.00031-15
Abstract
SUMMARY 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 emerged. A greater understanding of the genetic programs underpinning morphological variation in diverse bacterial groups, combined with assays of bacteria under conditions that mimic their varied natural environments, from flowing freshwater streams to diverse human body sites, provides new opportunities to probe the functional significance of cell shape. Here we explore shape diversity among bacteria, at the levels of cell geometry, size, and surface appendages (both placement and number), as it relates to survival in diverse environments. Cell shape in most bacteria is determined by the cell wall. A major challenge in this field has been deconvoluting the effects of differences in the chemical properties of the cell wall and the resulting cell shape perturbations on observed fitness changes. Still, such studies have begun to reveal the selective pressures that drive the diverse forms (or cell wall compositions) observed in mammalian pathogens and bacteria more generally, including efficient adherence to biotic and abiotic surfaces, survival under low-nutrient or stressful conditions, evasion of mammalian complement deposition, efficient dispersal through mucous barriers and tissues, and efficient nutrient acquisition.This publication has 200 references indexed in Scilit:
- General Protein Diffusion Barriers Create Compartments within Bacterial CellsCell, 2012
- Life cycle, growth characteristics and host cell response of Rickettsia helvetica in a Vero cell lineExperimental and Applied Acarology, 2011
- Minimization of Bacterial Size Allows for Complement Evasion and Is Overcome by the Agglutinating Effect of AntibodyCell Host & Microbe, 2011
- Morphological plasticity promotes resistance to phagocyte killing of uropathogenic Escherichia coliMicrobes and Infection, 2011
- Peptidoglycan Crosslinking Relaxation Promotes Helicobacter pylori's Helical Shape and Stomach ColonizationCell, 2010
- Sculpting the Bacterial CellCurrent Biology, 2009
- The Elastic Basis for the Shape of Borrelia burgdorferiBiophysical Journal, 2009
- Bacterial cell curvature through mechanical control of cell growthThe EMBO Journal, 2009
- Bacterial morphology: why have different shapes?Current Opinion in Microbiology, 2007
- Advantages and mechanisms of polarity and cell shape determination in Caulobacter crescentusCurrent Opinion in Microbiology, 2007