Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27573111›Full record

ArticleNature microbiology2016

Wall proficient E. coli capable of sustained growth in the absence of the Z-ring division machine.

Romain Mercier, Yoshikazu Kawai, Jeff Errington

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature microbiology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
21citing papers in PubMed
3.9field-weighted citation impact, top 7% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

21 citing papers in PubMed, 31 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Tissue-like structures formed by a bacterium.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Plasticity in the cell division processes of obligate intracellular bacteria.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2023
    Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Rod width under control.Nature microbiology · 2019
    Article
  13. Regeneration ofLife (Basel, Switzerland) · 2019
    Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Beyond force generation: Why is a dynamic ring of FtsZ polymers essential for bacterial cytokinesis?BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology · 2017
    Review
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Romain MercierCentre for Bacterial Cell Biology, Institute for Cell and Molecular Biosciences, Medical School, Newcastle University, Richardson Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4AX, UK.
Yoshikazu KawaiCentre for Bacterial Cell Biology, Institute for Cell and Molecular Biosciences, Medical School, Newcastle University, Richardson Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4AX, UK.
Jeff ErringtonCentre for Bacterial Cell Biology, Institute for Cell and Molecular Biosciences, Medical School, Newcastle University, Richardson Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4AX, UK.
Newcastle University · GBInstitut de Microbiologie de la Méditerranée · FR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The peptidoglycan cell wall is a major protective external sheath in bacteria and a key target for antibiotics(1). Peptidoglycan is present in virtually all bacteria, suggesting that it was probably present in the last bacterial common ancestor(2). Cell wall expansion is orchestrated by cytoskeletal proteins related to actin (MreB) and tubulin (FtsZ)(3). FtsZ is a key essential player in a highly organized division machine that directs an invaginating annulus of cell wall peptidoglycan. The recent discovery that cell-wall-less bacteria (L-forms) can grow and divide independently of FtsZ(4,5), provided a means of generating an ftsZ null mutant of Escherichia coli. Remarkably, we have been able to isolate variants of E. coli that lack FtsZ but are capable of efficient growth in a walled state. Genetic analysis reveals that a combination of mutations is needed for this phenotype. Importantly, the suppressive mutations lead to a major cell shape change, from the normal cylindrical shape to a branched and bulging, ramified shape, which we call 'coli-flower'. The results highlight the versatility of bacterial cells and illustrate possible evolutionary routes leading to the emergence of specialized bacteria, such as pathogenic Chlamydia or aquatic Planctomycetes, that lack FtsZ but retain the cell wall(6-8).

Indexed as

Cell DivisionBacterial ProteinsCell WallCytoskeletal ProteinsEscherichia coliPeptidoglycanBacterial ProteinsCytoskeletal ProteinsFtsZ protein, BacteriaPeptidoglycan

Identifiers

PMID27573111
OpenAlexW2463214204

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.