ArticleNature microbiology2016
Bacterial cell wall biogenesis is mediated by SEDS and PBP polymerase families functioning semi-autonomously.
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 224 papers.
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.
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.
Who cites it
224 citing papers in PubMed.
- Drug-likeness prioritised selection identifies anti-Journal of enzyme inhibition and medicinal chemistry · 2026Article
- Defining the order of assembly of theJournal of bacteriology · 2026Article
- RodZ acts through MreBCD to activate the elongasome inJournal of bacteriology · 2026Article
- Altered regulation of septal peptidoglycan synthesis modulates β-lactam susceptibility in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.PLoS genetics · 2026Article
- A double-layer plate method for rapid screening of cell wall-targeting antibiotic producers using a microbial whole-cell biosensor.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2026Article
- Tail-specific protease (Tsp)-mediated envelope remodeling and beta-lactam tolerance inMicrobiology spectrum · 2026Article
- The penicillin-binding protein PBP1b fortifies the Escherichia coli division site against osmotic rupture.Nature microbiology · 2026Article
- Structure and function of Salmonella inner membrane.Archives of microbiology · 2026Review
- Aminotetrazole-Gold Nanocomplexes Shunt Electrons to Eradicate Bacteria Without ROS-Induced Resistance.Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) · 2026Article
- Wall teichoic acids regulate peptidoglycan synthesis to maintain rod shape in Bacillus subtilis.Nature microbiology · 2026Article
- RodA promotes intestinal colonization by group BInfection and immunity · 2026Article
- Local peptidoglycan composition defines division site selection in Streptococcus pneumoniae.Nature microbiology · 2026Article
- Conserved rod-to-spherical shape transitions in Escherichia coli through primordial experimental adaptations.Bioscience reports · 2026Article
- Multilevel Regulation of Peptidoglycan Dynamics in Bacteria: From Molecular Mechanisms to Applied Perspectives.Biomolecules · 2026Review
- The transcription factor Vca0578 (DsvR) mediated expression of ZapC is required to promote cell division during lytic transglycosylase insufficiency inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Peptidoglycan recycling is critical for cell division, cell wall integrity, and β-lactam resistance ineLife · 2026Article
- Alanine-scanning mutagenesis library of MreB reveals distinct roles for regulating cell shape and viability.PLoS genetics · 2026Article
- Twin-arginine transport complex plays an essential role inMolecular biology of the cell · 2026Article
- Differential endopeptidase requirements during adaptation to changing growth conditions inMicrobiology (Reading, England) · 2026Article
- Enzymatic activity of PBP1B is required for growth rate-independent ppGpp-mediated resistance to PBP2 inhibitors inJournal of bacteriology · 2026Article
164 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Multi-protein complexes organized by cytoskeletal proteins are essential for cell wall biogenesis in most bacteria. Current models of the wall assembly mechanism assume that class A penicillin-binding proteins (aPBPs), the targets of penicillin-like drugs, function as the primary cell wall polymerases within these machineries. Here, we use an in vivo cell wall polymerase assay in Escherichia coli combined with measurements of the localization dynamics of synthesis proteins to investigate this hypothesis. We find that aPBP activity is not necessary for glycan polymerization by the cell elongation machinery, as is commonly believed. Instead, our results indicate that cell wall synthesis is mediated by two distinct polymerase systems, shape, elongation, division, sporulation (SEDS)-family proteins working within the cytoskeletal machines and aPBP enzymes functioning outside these complexes. These findings thus necessitate a fundamental change in our conception of the cell wall assembly process in bacteria.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.