Peptidoglycan Architecture Can Specify Division Planes in Staphylococcus Aureus

Overview

Journal Nat Commun

Specialty Biology

Date 2010 Oct 27

PMID 20975691

Citations 76

Authors

Robert D Turner

Emma C Ratcliffe

Richard Wheeler

Ramin Golestanian

Jamie K Hobbs

Simon J Foster

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Division in Staphylococci occurs equatorially and on specific sequentially orthogonal planes in three dimensions, resulting, after incomplete cell separation, in the 'bunch of grapes' cluster organization that defines the genus. The shape of Staphylococci is principally maintained by peptidoglycan. In this study, we use Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and fluorescence microscopy with vancomycin labelling to examine purified peptidoglycan architecture and its dynamics in Staphylococcus aureus and correlate these with the cell cycle. At the presumptive septum, cells were found to form a large belt of peptidoglycan in the division plane before the centripetal formation of the septal disc; this often had a 'piecrust' texture. After division, the structures remain as orthogonal ribs, encoding the location of past division planes in the cell wall. We propose that this epigenetic information is used to enable S. aureus to divide in sequentially orthogonal planes, explaining how a spherical organism can maintain division plane localization with fidelity over many generations.

Citing Articles

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