How bacterial cell division might cheat turgor pressure - a unified mechanism of septal division in Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.
Abstract
An important question for bacterial cell division is how the invaginating septum can
overcome the turgor force generated by the high osmolarity of the cytoplasm. I suggest
that it may not need to. Several studies in Gram-negative bacteria have shown that
the periplasm is isoosmolar with the cytoplasm. Indirect evidence suggests that this
is also true for Gram-positive bacteria. In this case the invagination of the septum
takes place within the uniformly high osmotic pressure environment, and does not have
to fight turgor pressure. A related question is how the V-shaped constriction of Gram-negative
bacteria relates to the plate-like septum of Gram-positive bacteria. I collected evidence
that Gram-negative bacteria have a latent capability of forming plate-like septa,
and present a model in which septal division is the basic mechanism in both Gram-positive
and Gram-negative bacteria.
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/16448Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1002/bies.201700045Publication Info
Erickson, Harold P (2017). How bacterial cell division might cheat turgor pressure - a unified mechanism of septal
division in Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology, 39(8). 10.1002/bies.201700045. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/16448.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Harold Paul Erickson
James B. Duke Distinguished Professor Emeritus
Recent research has been on cytoskeleton (eukaryotes and bacteria); a skirmish to
debunk the irisin story; a reinterpretation of proposed multivalent binders of the
coronavirus spike protein. I have also published an ebook on "Principles of Protein-Protein
Association" suitable for a course module or individual learning.

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