Figure 6.

Deletion of rlpA restores normal cell morphology of the temperature-sensitive E. coli strain LP11-1 (ftsK44). (A) Representative phase contrast micrographs, (B) mean cell length, and (C) cell length distribution of ΔrlpA knockout (W3110 ΔrlpA and LP11-1 ΔrlpA) and complemented (LP11-1 ΔrlpA pSG002-1) E. coli strains grown at 42 °C. In all panels, E. coli strains W3110 and LP11-1 were analyzed as WT controls. Micrographs depict typical cells of each strain after 0 or 8 h of growth at 42 °C. The genotype of each strain is indicated in the upper left corner of each micrograph (bar, 10 µm). Cells were measured for cell length using the ImageJ program and are reported as mean cell length (µm) ± S.E. (n = 150 cells per strain per time point). Pairwise comparisons of cell lengths were made using a one-way analysis of variance with Tukey-Kramer multiple comparison post-tests (*p < 0.001).