An alternative and conserved cell wall enzyme that can substitute for the lipid II synthase MurG

Microbial Biotechnolog

Off the wall: characterisation and exploitation of a cell wall-deficient life style in filamentous actinomycetes

Almost all bacteria are enveloped by a cell wall that provides cellular protection. In this thesis I show that some filamentous actinomycetes have a surprising natural ability to adopt a cell wall-deficient life style. The formation of these newly identified S-cells is a transient morphological adaptation in response to hyperosmotic stress conditions. In contrast, prolonged exposure to cell wall-targeting antibiotics or osmotic stress leads to the formation of so-called L-form cells, which are mutants that can proliferate indefinitely without their cell wall. The exciting properties of L-forms were used to discover a new cell-wall biosynthetic enzyme and to study enzyme secretion in the absence of a cell wall

Off the wall: characterisation and exploitation of a cell wall-deficient life style in filamentous actinomycetes

Almost all bacteria are enveloped by a cell wall that provides cellular protection. In this thesis I show that some filamentous actinomycetes have a surprising natural ability to adopt a cell wall-deficient life style. The formation of these newly identified S-cells is a transient morphological adaptation in response to hyperosmotic stress conditions. In contrast, prolonged exposure to cell wall-targeting antibiotics or osmotic stress leads to the formation of so-called L-form cells, which are mutants that can proliferate indefinitely without their cell wall. The exciting properties of L-forms were used to discover a new cell-wall biosynthetic enzyme and to study enzyme secretion in the absence of a cell wall

Genome rearrangements and megaplasmid loss in the filamentous bacterium Kitasatospora viridifaciens are associated with protoplast formation and regeneration

Microbial Biotechnolog