Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29593214›Full record

ArticleNature communications2018

Molecular imaging of glycan chains couples cell-wall polysaccharide architecture to bacterial cell morphology.

Robert D Turner, Stéphane Mesnage, Jamie K Hobbs, Simon J Foster

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
46citing papers in PubMed
10.7field-weighted citation impact, top 1% 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

46 citing papers in PubMed, 110 citations in OpenAlex.

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  7. Stress-mediated growth determinesProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
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  8. FtsZ-mediated spatial-temporal control over septal cell wall synthesis.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  9. Article
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  12. Viral Genome Delivery Across Bacterial Cell Surfaces.Annual review of microbiology · 2024
    Review
  13. Article
  14. Review
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Robert D TurnerKrebs Institute, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK.
Stéphane MesnageKrebs Institute, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK.
Jamie K HobbsKrebs Institute, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK. jamie.hobbs@sheffield.ac.uk.
Simon J FosterKrebs Institute, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK. s.foster@sheffield.ac.uk.
University of Sheffield · GB

Funding

Medical Research Council G1100127Medical Research Council MR/K015753/1Medical Research Council MR/N002679/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Biopolymer composite cell walls maintain cell shape and resist forces in plants, fungi and bacteria. Peptidoglycan, a crucial antibiotic target and immunomodulator, performs this role in bacteria. The textbook structural model of peptidoglycan is a highly ordered, crystalline material. Here we use atomic force microscopy (AFM) to image individual glycan chains in peptidoglycan from Escherichia coli in unprecedented detail. We quantify and map the extent to which chains are oriented in a similar direction (orientational order), showing it is much less ordered than previously depicted. Combining AFM with size exclusion chromatography, we reveal glycan chains up to 200 nm long. We show that altered cell shape is associated with substantial changes in peptidoglycan biophysical properties. Glycans from E. coli in its normal rod shape are long and circumferentially oriented, but when a spheroid shape is induced (chemically or genetically) glycans become short and disordered.

Indexed as

Molecular ImagingAnti-Bacterial AgentsBacillus subtilisCell WallEscherichia coliMicroscopy, Atomic ForceMicroscopy, Phase-ContrastModels, MolecularPeptidoglycanPolymersPolysaccharidesAnti-Bacterial AgentsPeptidoglycanPolymersPolysaccharides

Identifiers

PMID29593214
PMCPMC5871751
OpenAlexW2795072897

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.