Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37260169›Full record

ArticleThe EMBO journal2023

Cell envelope growth of Gram-negative bacteria proceeds independently of cell wall synthesis.

Enno R Oldewurtel, Yuki Kitahara, Baptiste Cordier, Richard Wheeler, Gizem Özbaykal, Elisa Brambilla, Ivo Gomperts Boneca, Lars D Renner, Sven van Teeffelen

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The EMBO journal, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed
4.7field-weighted citation impact, top 5% 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

9 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Hybrid capture RNA-seq defines temporal gene expression inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
  5. Bacterial peptidoglycan as a living polymer.Current opinion in chemical biology · 2025
    Review
  6. Antibacterial carbon dots.Materials today. Bio · 2025
    Review
  7. Review
  8. Lytic transglycosylase Slt of Pseudomonas aeruginosa as a periplasmic hub protein.Protein science : a publication of the Protein Society · 2024
    Article
  9. Article
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

9 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

Enno R Oldewurtel *Morphogenesis and Microbial Growth Lab, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
Yuki Kitahara *Morphogenesis and Microbial Growth Lab, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.ORCID 0000-0001-8034-9058
Baptiste CordierMorphogenesis and Microbial Growth Lab, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
Richard WheelerInstitut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, UMR6047 CNRS, U1306 INSERM, Unité Biologie et Génétique de la Paroi Bactérienne, Paris, France.ORCID 0000-0002-9249-2377
Gizem ÖzbaykalMorphogenesis and Microbial Growth Lab, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.ORCID 0000-0002-9115-7120
Elisa BrambillaMorphogenesis and Microbial Growth Lab, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.ORCID 0000-0003-2861-0049
Ivo Gomperts BonecaInstitut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, UMR6047 CNRS, U1306 INSERM, Unité Biologie et Génétique de la Paroi Bactérienne, Paris, France.ORCID 0000-0001-8122-509X
Lars D RennerLeibniz Institute of Polymer Research and the Max Bergmann Center of Biomaterials, Dresden, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-0178-1788
Sven van TeeffelenMorphogenesis and Microbial Growth Lab, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.ORCID 0000-0002-0877-1294
Institut Pasteur · FRCentre National de la Recherche Scientifique · FRMax Bergmann Zentrum für Biomaterialien · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

All bacterial cells must expand their envelopes during growth. The main load-bearing and shape-determining component of the bacterial envelope is the peptidoglycan cell wall. Bacterial envelope growth and shape changes are often thought to be controlled through enzymatic cell wall insertion. We investigated the role of cell wall insertion for cell shape changes during cell elongation in Gram-negative bacteria. We found that both global and local rates of envelope growth of Escherichia coli remain nearly unperturbed upon arrest of cell wall insertion-up to the point of sudden cell lysis. Specifically, cells continue to expand their surface areas in proportion to biomass growth rate, even if the rate of mass growth changes. Other Gram-negative bacteria behave similarly. Furthermore, cells plastically change cell shape in response to differential mechanical forces. Overall, we conclude that cell wall-cleaving enzymes can control envelope growth independently of synthesis. Accordingly, the strong overexpression of an endopeptidase leads to transiently accelerated bacterial cell elongation. Our study demonstrates that biomass growth and envelope forces can guide cell envelope expansion through mechanisms that are independent of cell wall insertion.

Indexed as

Cell WallEscherichia coliCell CycleCell MembraneGram-Negative BacteriaPeptidoglycanPeptidoglycancell-size growthGram-negative bacteriamechanical envelope forcespeptidoglycan endopeptidasespeptidoglycan synthesis

Identifiers

PMID37260169
PMCPMC10350831
OpenAlexW4378953821

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.