Journal
SCIENCE
Volume 348, Issue 6234, Pages 574-578Publisher
AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1126/science.aaa1511
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Funding
- National Center for Research Resources [1S10OD01227601]
- Stanford Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellowship
- Stanford Cell and Molecular Biology Training Grant [T32-GM007276]
- NIH Center for Biomedical Computation [U54-GM072970]
- James S. McDonnell Foundation
- Siebel Scholars Graduate Fellowship
- NIH Biotechnology Training Grant
- NIH Director's New Innovator Award [DP2OD006466]
- HHMI
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases [R01-AI36929]
- Stanford Center for Systems Biology [P50-GM107615]
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When Staphylococcus aureus undergoes cytokinesis, it builds a septum, generating two hemispherical daughters whose cell walls are only connected via a narrow peripheral ring. We found that resolution of this ring occurred within milliseconds (popping), without detectable changes in cell volume. The likelihood of popping depended on cell-wall stress, and the separating cells split open asymmetrically, leaving the daughters connected by a hinge. An elastostatic model of the wall indicated high circumferential stress in the peripheral ring before popping. Last, we observed small perforations in the peripheral ring that are likely initial points of mechanical failure. Thus, the ultrafast daughter cell separation in S. aureus appears to be driven by accumulation of stress in the peripheral ring and exhibits hallmarks of mechanical crack propagation.
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