ArticleCurrent biology : CB2017
Fatty Acid Availability Sets Cell Envelope Capacity and Dictates Microbial Cell Size.
Article in Current biology : CB, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 86 papers.
What it found
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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.
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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.
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Who cites it
86 citing papers in PubMed, 159 citations in OpenAlex.
- LPS in gram-negative bacterial growth and physiology: outside but fully integrated.Microbiology and molecular biology reviews : MMBR · 2026Review
- Bacterial growth rate in populations and single cells.Nature microbiology · 2026Review
- A Single-Nucleotide Substitution Generates a de Novo Promoter That Activates a Latent Metabolic Bypass in Escherichia coli.Molecular microbiology · 2026Article
- The phosphoenolpyruvate phosphotransferase system regulates cell length and width through semi-independent pathways.Molecular biology of the cell · 2026Article
- RelBE-mediated stress responses reshape cellular morphology ofMicrobiology spectrum · 2026Article
- Conserved rod-to-spherical shape transitions in Escherichia coli through primordial experimental adaptations.Bioscience reports · 2026Article
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- Essential Role of LapD in the Absence of Cardiolipins.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Rethinking the plasmid paradox: when plasmid costs do not affect fitness.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Coordinated Biosynthesis of Essential Cell Envelope Components: Lipopolysaccharide and Fatty Acids Requires LapD, Acyl Carrier Protein, and Fully Hexaacylated Lipid A.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Nasal microbionts differentially colonize and elicit cytokines in human nasal epithelial organoids.mSphere · 2025Article
- PlsX and PlsY: Additional roles beyond glycerophospholipid synthesis in Gram-negative bacteria.mBio · 2024Article
- The double-edged role of FASII regulator FabT in Streptococcus pyogenes infection.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Investigating topical delivery of erythromycin laden into lipid nanocarrier for enhancing the anti-bacterial activity.Saudi pharmaceutical journal : SPJ : the official publication of the Saudi Pharmaceutical Society · 2024Article
- Niche selection in bacterioplankton: A study of taxonomic composition and single-cell characteristics in an acidic reservoir.Environmental microbiology reports · 2024Article
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- Co-ordinated assembly of the multilayered cell envelope of Gram-negative bacteria.Current opinion in microbiology · 2024Review
- Redundant essentiality of AsmA-like proteins inmSphere · 2024Article
- TrhA, a bacterial progestin and adiponectin receptor homolog, couples membrane energetics homeostasis and unsaturated fatty acid metabolism.Journal of bacteriology · 2024Article
26 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
7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Nutrients-and by extension biosynthetic capacity-positively impact cell size in organisms throughout the tree of life. In bacteria, cell size is reduced 3-fold in response to nutrient starvation or accumulation of the alarmone ppGpp, a global inhibitor of biosynthesis. However, whether biosynthetic capacity as a whole determines cell size or whether particular anabolic pathways are more important than others remains an open question. Here we identify fatty acid synthesis as the primary biosynthetic determinant of Escherichia coli size and present evidence supporting a similar role for fatty acids as a positive determinant of size in the Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis and the single-celled eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Altering fatty acid synthesis recapitulated the impact of altering nutrients on cell size and morphology, whereas defects in other biosynthetic pathways had either a negligible or fatty-acid-dependent effect on size. Together, our findings support a novel "outside-in" model in which fatty acid availability sets cell envelope capacity, which in turn dictates cell size. In the absence of ppGpp, limiting fatty acid synthesis leads to cell lysis, supporting a role for ppGpp as a linchpin linking expansion of cytoplasmic volume to the growth of the cell envelope to preserve cellular integrity.
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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.