Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37017514›Full record

ArticlemBio2023

A Decrease in Fatty Acid Synthesis Rescues Cells with Limited Peptidoglycan Synthesis Capacity.

Jessica R Willdigg, Yesha Patel, John D Helmann

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in mBio, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
1.6field-weighted citation impact, top 15% 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

8 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. The phenotypic landscape of the model firmicuteProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Staying in the loop to make ends meet: roles and regulation of GlmR inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025
    Article
  6. Fatty acid synthesis and utilization in gram-positive bacteria: insights fromMicrobiology and molecular biology reviews : MMBR · 2025
    Review
  7. Article
  8. Review
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

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Jessica R WilldiggDepartment of Microbiology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-7741-3052
Yesha PatelDepartment of Microbiology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-9888-9888
John D HelmannDepartment of Microbiology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-3832-3249
Cornell University · US

Funding

Bacillus subtilis Stress ResponsesR35GM122461 · NIGMS · CORNELL UNIVERSITY · PI John D Helmann · 2017 to 2026
$7.6M
NIGMS NIH HHS R35 GM122461
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Proper synthesis and maintenance of a multilayered cell envelope are critical for bacterial fitness. However, whether mechanisms exist to coordinate synthesis of the membrane and peptidoglycan layers is unclear. In Bacillus subtilis, synthesis of peptidoglycan (PG) during cell elongation is mediated by an elongasome complex acting in concert with class A penicillin-binding proteins (aPBPs). We previously described mutant strains limited in their capacity for PG synthesis due to a loss of aPBPs and an inability to compensate by upregulation of elongasome function. Growth of these PG-limited cells can be restored by suppressor mutations predicted to decrease membrane synthesis. One suppressor mutation leads to an altered function repressor, FapR*, that functions as a super-repressor and leads to decreased transcription of fatty acid synthesis (FAS) genes. Consistent with fatty acid limitation mitigating cell wall synthesis defects, inhibition of FAS by cerulenin also restored growth of PG-limited cells. Moreover, cerulenin can counteract the inhibitory effect of β-lactams in some strains. These results imply that limiting PG synthesis results in impaired growth, in part, due to an imbalance of PG and cell membrane synthesis and that B. subtilis lacks a robust physiological mechanism to reduce membrane synthesis when PG synthesis is impaired.

Indexed as

Bacterial ProteinsPeptidoglycanbeta-LactamsCell WallCeruleninPenicillin-Binding ProteinsBacterial Proteinsbeta-LactamsCeruleninPenicillin-Binding ProteinsPeptidoglycanantibioticantibiotic resistanceBacillus subtiliscell wallelongasomefatty acid synthesispeptidoglycan

Identifiers

PMID37017514
PMCPMC10128001
OpenAlexW4362602109

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.