Cell-size homeostasis and the incremental rule in a bacterial pathogen Journal Article
| Authors: | Deforet, M.; Van Ditmarsch, D.; Xavier, J. B. |
| Article Title: | Cell-size homeostasis and the incremental rule in a bacterial pathogen |
| Abstract: | How populations of growing cells achieve cell-size homeostasis remains a major question in cell biology. Recent studies in rod-shaped bacteria support the "incremental rule" where each cell adds a constant length before dividing. Although this rule explains narrow cell-size distributions, its mechanism is still unknown. We show that the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa obeys the incremental rule to achieve cell-length homeostasis during exponential growth but shortens its cells when entering the stationary phase. We identify a mutant, called frik, which has increased antibiotic sensitivity, cells that are on average longer, and a fraction of filamentous cells longer than 10 μm. When growth slows due to entry in stationary phase, the distribution of frik cell sizes decreases and approaches wild-type length distribution. The rare filamentous cells have abnormally large nucleoids, suggesting that a deficiency in DNA segregation prevents cell division without slowing the exponential elongation rate. © 2015 Biophysical Society. |
| Keywords: | bacteria (microorganisms); pseudomonas aeruginosa |
| Journal Title: | Biophysical Journal |
| Volume: | 109 |
| Issue: | 3 |
| ISSN: | 0006-3495 |
| Publisher: | Cell Press |
| Date Published: | 2015-08-04 |
| Start Page: | 521 |
| End Page: | 528 |
| Language: | English |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.bpj.2015.07.002 |
| PROVIDER: | scopus |
| PUBMED: | 26244734 |
| PMCID: | PMC4572571 |
| DOI/URL: | |
| Notes: | Export Date: 2 September 2015 -- Source: Scopus |
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