Stresses on the Surface Stress Theory

Abstract

An understanding of wall growth in prokaryotes will only be achieved by the combined assault of microbial physiology, biochemistry, genetics, and biophysics. Essentially the problem is one in engineering, material science, and architecture; these subjects provide the paradigms that we must used. On this basis, the surface stress theory (SST) was formulated twelve years ago (Koch et al., 1981). Over time it has been variously refined, modified, reviewed, quoted, incorporated into textbooks, restated, attacked, criticized, misunderstood, rejected, and overlooked. I hope here to present it in a fully defendable mature form.