Abstract
Physical forces play a profound role in the survival and function of all known forms of life. Advances in cell biomechanics and mechanobiology have provided key insights into the physiology of eukaryotic organisms, but much less is known about the roles of physical forces in bacterial physiology. This review is an introduction to bacterial mechanics intended for persons familiar with cells and biomechanics in mammalian cells. Bacteria play a major role in human health, either as pathogens or as beneficial commensal organisms within the microbiome. Although bacteria have long been known to be sensitive to their mechanical environment, understanding the effects of physical forces on bacterial physiology has been limited by their small size (∼1 μm). However, advancements in micro- and nano-scale technologies over the past few years have increasingly made it possible to rigorously examine the mechanical stress and strain within individual bacteria. Here, we review the methods currently used to examine bacteria from a mechanical perspective, including the subcellular structures in bacteria and how they differ from those in mammalian cells, as well as micro- and nanomechanical approaches to studying bacteria, and studies showing the effects of physical forces on bacterial physiology. Recent findings indicate a large range in mechanical properties of bacteria and show that physical forces can have a profound effect on bacterial survival, growth, biofilm formation, and resistance to toxins and antibiotics. Advances in the field of bacterial biomechanics have the potential to lead to novel antibacterial strategies, biotechnology approaches, and applications in synthetic biology.
Highlights
In the classic text On Growth and Form, the mathematical biologist D’Arcy Thompson described the role of physical forces in the development and growth of organisms, including examples from mammals, arthropods, and individual eukaryotic cells.[1]
Bacteria are ubiquitous in the environment and exhibit a broad influence on many areas including human health, the health of ecosystems, all aspects of the food chain, biofouling of devices, processes used in molecular biology and biotechnology, and emerging technologies such as synthetic biology
Bacterial physiology is important to human health, agriculture, biofouling of devices, molecular biology and biotechnology, and food production and security
Summary
In the classic text On Growth and Form, the mathematical biologist D’Arcy Thompson described the role of physical forces in the development and growth of organisms, including examples from mammals, arthropods, and individual eukaryotic cells.[1]. Scitation.org/journal/apb osmolarity.[8,9] Technological advances in the past decade have related the mechanical properties of bacteria to cell division[10] and cell envelope remodeling[11,12] and have shown that mechanical stimulation of bacteria influences key pathogenic processes including expression of virulence factors[13] and biofilm formation.[14]. In the past decades, there have been considerable advances in understanding bacterial locomotion[15] and the mechanics of biofilms as an aggregate,[16,17] the current manuscript focuses on recent advances in understanding the biomechanics and mechanobiology of the bacterial cell body and non-locomotory organs and cell envelope components. The review is intended as an introduction to persons familiar with cell and molecular biomechanics in mammalian cells
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