Smart Bacterial Materials
One of the most common cellular morphologies across nature is the cylinder, rod, or bacillus. To achieve this shape, cells usually reinforce the circumference of the cell to avoid cell widening while allowing elongation. However, it is not known – in any system – how cells homeostatically specify cell width. I will show, first, how the cell wall of Gram-positive bacteria like Bacillus subtilisexhibit extraordinary non-linear mechanical properties, including both stress-stiffening and stress-softening in different regimes of intracellular pressure. I will next explain how the cell exploits these properties to adaptively execute cell width homeostasis. Our preliminary studies in plant roots reveal that this generic strategy may appear convergently across many systems.
Please use this link to access the Zoom meeting.
For any questions, please contact Hyacinth Camillieri at hcamillieri@gc.cuny.edu.