title: Bacterial cell shape.
abstract: Bacterial species have long been classified on the basis of their characteristic cell shapes. Despite intensive research, the molecular mechanisms underlying the generation and maintenance of bacterial cell shape remain largely unresolved. The field has recently taken an important step forward with the discovery that eukaryotic cytoskeletal proteins have homologues in bacteria that affect cell shape. Here, we discuss how a bacterium gains and maintains its shape, the challenges still confronting us and emerging strategies for answering difficult questions in this rapidly evolving field.
authors: Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, PO BOX 208103, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA.
authors: Matthew T
authors: MT
authors: Cabeen
authors: Christine
authors: C
authors: Jacobs-Wagner
mesh_terms: D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D046915:Penicillin-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D046915:Penicillin-Binding Proteins