Journal
BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Volume 107, Issue 11, Pages 2538-2545Publisher
CELL PRESS
DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2014.10.036
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Funding
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [BB/E001378/1] Funding Source: researchfish
- BBSRC [BB/E001378/1] Funding Source: UKRI
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The nanoscale mechanical properties of live Staphylococcus aureus cells during different phases of growth were studied by atomic force microscopy. Indentation to different depths provided access to both local cell wall mechanical properties and whole-cell properties, including a component related to cell turgor pressure. Local cell wall properties were found to change in a characteristic manner throughout the division cycle. Splitting of the cell into two daughter cells followed a local softening of the cell wall along the division circumference, with the cell wall on either side of the division circumference becoming stiffer. Once exposed, the newly formed septum was found to be stiffer than the surrounding, older cell wall. Deeper indentations, which were affected by cell turgor pressure, did not show a change in stiffness throughout the division cycle, implying that enzymatic cell wall remodeling and local variations in wall properties are responsible for the evolution of cell shape through division.
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