Abstract
The development of convenient methodology to study penicillin-sensitive enzymes (PSEs) as penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs)1,2 has revealed their roles in bacterial cell shape determination, particularly in the Gram-negative rod Escherichia coli3–6. By analysing PBPs during the life cycle of Bacillus megaterium KM we report here the first data suggesting specific roles for these proteins in the morphogenesis of a Gram-positive rod. During the transition from the vegetative rod to the spherical/ellipsoidal-shaped dormant spore, novel PBPs are synthesized and existing ones are proteolytically modified. The differentiation of the dormant spore PBP profile back to that of the vegetative cell during germination, follows a defined sequence clearly correlated to specific changes in shape, culminating in a highly synchronous vegetative cell division.
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