Assembly and Remodelling of the Bacterial Cell Wall
Most bacteria are surrounded by a cell wall that is essential for conferring cell shape (rod, coccus, etc.) and protecting against cell lysis due to high internal osmotic pressure. The bacterial cell wall is also the ultimate target of many of our most successful antibiotics. Unfortunately, the spread of antibiotic resistant pathogens is rendering these “wonder drugs” obsolete. We use a combination of genetics, biochemistry and fluorescence microscopy to better understand how bacteria assemble and remodel their cell wall during growth and division. The answers to these questions are interesting in their own right and will guide efforts to develop new antibiotics.
