The molecular architecture of peptidoglycan and the rate of peptidoglycan biosynthesis relative to cytoplasmic expansion play essential roles in determining bacterial size and shape
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Cell size and shape are cell-scale properties many orders of magnitude larger than individual proteins, and it is largely unknown how cells coordinate the growth of such reproducible, uniform, large-scale structures. In this thesis I present several lines of inquiry to address what determines cell size and shape in several bacterial species. First, I investigate a point mutation in the morphogenetic protein MreB and find that the resulting variable-width phenotype reveals a role for surface area to volume ratio (SA/V) maintenance in determining cell shape and size. Next, I present a general mechanism for SA/V homeostasis in bacteria and demonstrate that this mechanism underlies size determination in bacteria, resolving many long-standing questions about the link between growth rate and cell size. Finally, I develop a novel method for detecting the underlying architecture of peptidoglycan that can be widely implemented to understand how genetic and chemical perturbations acting locally give rise to cell-scale morphological defects.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2016 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Harris, Leigh Kathleen |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Biophysics Program. |
| Primary advisor | Theriot, Julie |
| Thesis advisor | Theriot, Julie |
| Thesis advisor | Fisher, Daniel S |
| Thesis advisor | Huang, Kerwyn Casey, 1979- |
| Thesis advisor | Shapiro, Lucy |
| Advisor | Fisher, Daniel S |
| Advisor | Huang, Kerwyn Casey, 1979- |
| Advisor | Shapiro, Lucy |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Leigh Kathleen Harris. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Program in Biophysics. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2016. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2016 by Leigh Kathleen Harris
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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