Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of Bacteriology logoLink to Journal of Bacteriology
. 1991 Jan;173(1):204–210. doi: 10.1128/jb.173.1.204-210.1991

Mechanical properties of Bacillus subtilis cell walls: effects of ions and lysozyme.

J J Thwaites 1, U C Surana 1, A M Jones 1
PMCID: PMC207176  PMID: 1898921

Abstract

Bacterial threads of Bacillus subtilis have been immersed in, and redrawn from, water of various pH values, in solutions of (NH4)2SO4 and NaCl of various concentrations, and in lysozyme solutions. The changes in the tensile strength, elastic modulus, and other mechanical properties of the bacterial cell wall due to these treatments were obtained. The data show that change in pH has little effect but that as the salt concentration is increased, the cell walls become more ductile. A high salt concentration (1 M NaCl) can reduce the modulus by a factor of 26 to 13.5 MPa at 81% relative humidity and the strength by a factor of only 2.5. Despite attacking the septal-wall region of the cellular filaments, lysozyme has no effect on the mechanical properties. There is no significant change in the stress relaxation behavior due to any of the treatments. The dependence of mechanical properties on the salt concentration is discussed in terms of the polyelectrolyte nature of cell walls. The evidence presented in this and the accompanying paper (J. J. Thwaites and U.C. Surana, J. Bacteriol., 173:197-203, 1991) supports the idea that the peptidoglycan in bacterial cell wall is an entanglement network with a large degree of molecular flexibility, with some order but no regular structure.

Full text

PDF
204

Images in this article

206Image
on p.206
207Image
on p.207

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Anderson A. J., Green R. S., Sturman A. J., Archibald A. R. Cell wall assembly in Bacillus subtilis: location of wall material incorporated during pulsed release of phosphate limitation, its accessibility to bacteriophages and concanavalin A, and its susceptibility to turnover. J Bacteriol. 1978 Dec;136(3):886–899. doi: 10.1128/jb.136.3.886-899.1978. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Archibald A. R., Coapes H. E. Bacteriophage SP50 as a marker for cell wall growth in Bacillus subtilis. J Bacteriol. 1976 Mar;125(3):1195–1206. doi: 10.1128/jb.125.3.1195-1206.1976. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Beveridge T. J., Murray R. G. Sites of metal deposition in the cell wall of Bacillus subtilis. J Bacteriol. 1980 Feb;141(2):876–887. doi: 10.1128/jb.141.2.876-887.1980. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Beveridge T. J., Murray R. G. Uptake and retention of metals by cell walls of Bacillus subtilis. J Bacteriol. 1976 Sep;127(3):1502–1518. doi: 10.1128/jb.127.3.1502-1518.1976. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Doyle R. J., Matthews T. H., Streips U. N. Chemical basis for selectivity of metal ions by the Bacillus subtilis cell wall. J Bacteriol. 1980 Jul;143(1):471–480. doi: 10.1128/jb.143.1.471-480.1980. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Doyle R. J., McDannel M. L., Helman J. R., Streips U. N. Distribution of teichoic acid in the cell wall of Bacillus subtilis. J Bacteriol. 1975 Apr;122(1):152–158. doi: 10.1128/jb.122.1.152-158.1975. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Doyle R. J., McDannel M. L., Streips U. N., Birdsell D. C., Young F. E. Polyelectrolyte nature of bacterial teichoic acids. J Bacteriol. 1974 May;118(2):606–615. doi: 10.1128/jb.118.2.606-615.1974. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Favre D., Mendelson N. H., Thwaites J. J. Relaxation motions induced in Bacillus subtilis macrofibres by cleavage of peptidoglycan. J Gen Microbiol. 1986 Aug;132(8):2377–2385. doi: 10.1099/00221287-132-8-2377. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Heptinstall S., Archibald A. R., Baddiley J. Teichoic acids and membrane function in bacteria. Nature. 1970 Feb 7;225(5232):519–521. doi: 10.1038/225519a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. James A. M., Brewer J. E. Non-protein components of the cell surface of Staphylococcus aureus. Biochem J. 1968 May;107(6):817–821. doi: 10.1042/bj1070817. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Marquis R. E., Mayzel K., Carstensen E. L. Cation exchange in cell walls of gram-positive bacteria. Can J Microbiol. 1976 Jul;22(7):975–982. doi: 10.1139/m76-142. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Marquis R. E. Salt-induced contraction of bacterial cell walls. J Bacteriol. 1968 Mar;95(3):775–781. doi: 10.1128/jb.95.3.775-781.1968. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Mendelson N. H., Favre D. Regulation of Bacillus subtilis macrofiber twist development by ions: effects of magnesium and ammonium. J Bacteriol. 1987 Feb;169(2):519–525. doi: 10.1128/jb.169.2.519-525.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Mendelson N. H., Favre D., Thwaites J. J. Twisted states of Bacillus subtilis macrofibers reflect structural states of the cell wall. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Jun;81(11):3562–3566. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.11.3562. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Mendelson N. H., Thwaites J. J. Cell wall mechanical properties as measured with bacterial thread made from Bacillus subtilis. J Bacteriol. 1989 Feb;171(2):1055–1062. doi: 10.1128/jb.171.2.1055-1062.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Mendelson N. H., Thwaites J. J., Favre D., Surana U., Briehl M. M., Wolfe A. Factors contributing to helical shape determination and maintenance in Bacillus subtilis macrofibres. Ann Inst Pasteur Microbiol. 1985 Jan-Feb;136A(1):99–103. doi: 10.1016/s0769-2609(85)80029-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Ou L. T., Marquis R. E. Electromechanical interactions in cell walls of gram-positive cocci. J Bacteriol. 1970 Jan;101(1):92–101. doi: 10.1128/jb.101.1.92-101.1970. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Sonnenfeld E. M., Beveridge T. J., Doyle R. J. Discontinuity of charge on cell wall poles of Bacillus subtilis. Can J Microbiol. 1985 Sep;31(9):875–877. doi: 10.1139/m85-163. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Sonnenfeld E. M., Beveridge T. J., Koch A. L., Doyle R. J. Asymmetric distribution of charge on the cell wall of Bacillus subtilis. J Bacteriol. 1985 Sep;163(3):1167–1171. doi: 10.1128/jb.163.3.1167-1171.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Thwaites J. J., Mendelson N. H. Biomechanics of bacterial walls: studies of bacterial thread made from Bacillus subtilis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1985 Apr;82(7):2163–2167. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.7.2163. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Thwaites J. J., Mendelson N. H. Mechanical properties of peptidoglycan as determined from bacterial thread. Int J Biol Macromol. 1989 Aug;11(4):201–206. doi: 10.1016/0141-8130(89)90069-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Thwaites J. J., Surana U. C. Mechanical properties of Bacillus subtilis cell walls: effects of removing residual culture medium. J Bacteriol. 1991 Jan;173(1):197–203. doi: 10.1128/jb.173.1.197-203.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Bacteriology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES