PMID: 2492505Feb 1, 1989Paper

Cell wall mechanical properties as measured with bacterial thread made from Bacillus subtilis

Journal of Bacteriology
N H Mendelson, J J Thwaites

Abstract

Engineering approaches used in the study of textile fibers have been applied to the measurement of mechanical properties of bacterial cell walls by using the Bacillus subtilis bacterial thread system. Improved methods have been developed for the production of thread and for measuring its mechanical properties. The best specimens of thread produced from cultures of strain FJ7 grown in TB medium at 20 degrees C varied in diameter by a factor of 1.09 over a 30-mm thread length. The stress-strain behavior of cell walls was determined over the range of relative humidities between 11 and 98%. Measurements of over 125 specimens indicated that cell wall behaved like other viscoelastic polymers, both natural and man-made, exhibiting relaxation under constant elongation and recovery upon load removal. This kinetic behavior and also the cell wall strength depended greatly on humidity. The recovery from extension observed after loading even up to a substantial fraction of the breaking load indicated that the properties measured were those of cell wall material rather than of behavior of the thread assemblage. Control experiments showed that neither drying of thread nor the length of time it remained dry before testing influenced the mechan...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jan 19, 1999·Annual Review of Microbiology·E Ben-JacobD L Gutnick
Nov 24, 2011·Physical Review Letters·Yi DengJoshua W Shaevitz
Dec 18, 2020·Biophysical Journal·Amar VelicPrasad K D V Yarlagadda
Nov 14, 2020·Fluids and Barriers of the CNS·Gabryel Conley NatividadBryn A Martin
Jan 1, 1991·Journal of Bacteriology·J J ThwaitesA M Jones
Dec 1, 1991·Microbiological Reviews·T J Beveridge, L L Graham

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