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Whydodifferentbacteriahavedifferentshapes?
Whydodifferentbacteriahavedifferentshapes?Isitonlyrelatedtotheirfunction?
microbiology

bacteriology
editedOct10'13at0:43

askedOct10'13at0:11

Amory
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23

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1 Duetomultipleevolutionaryforcesactingoverlongperiodsoftime(alongwithchanceevents,heterogeneous
environmentsetc)?Ireallydon'tseethisasaconstructivequestion.Youcouldjustaswellreplacewith"Whydo
birdshavedifferentcolours?"or"Whydofishhavedifferentsizes?"fileunderwaterOct10'13at8:49
@fileunderwater:Iseeitasaveryinterestingbiologicalquestion.Iwouldrathercompareitto"whydobirdshave
differentlyshapedbeaks?"nicoOct10'13at16:01
@nicoIseethatquestionastoobroadaswelltoomanypossibleanswersandreasonablemechanismstobe
answerableinlessthanabook.fileunderwaterOct10'13at20:18

2Answers

ReasonsforBacteriawithdifferentshapesasgiveninWikipedia/Bacteria:
Thewidevarietyofshapesisdeterminedbythebacterialcellwallandcytoskeleton,andis
importantbecauseitcaninfluencetheabilityofbacteriatoacquirenutrients,attachto
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12/1/2016

microbiologyWhydodifferentbacteriahavedifferentshapes?BiologyStackExchange

surfaces,swimthroughliquidsandescapepredators.
ThereisanarticlebasedonresearchbyKevinD.YoungBacterialmorphology:Whyhave
differentshapes?whichhighlights3mainpointswhichdefinestheshapeofBacteria:
1.Nutrientuptake:Cellshape,inandofitself,affectsnutrientacquisitionandarguesthat
othernutritionalsituationsmaycreateconditionsthatfavoronebacterialshapeoveranother.
2.Motility:Motilityimposesaheavyselectivepressureoncellshape.Fastcellsarebetteroff
asrodswithacertainlengthtowidthratio,chemotacticcellsmustadoptshaperatiosinline
withtheirenvironments,andcellsthatforagenearsurfacesornavigateviscous
environmentsmaydobestiftheyareslightlycurvedorspiral.
3.Predation:Intheirstruggleagainstbeingeaten,bacteriahaveadoptedmorphological
defensesthatmayhaveproducedthewealthofshapeswenowobserve.
Thesefactorsplayaroleinshapingbacteria.Furtherheexplainswhatingeneralgivestheshape
tobacteria:
Bacterialmorphologyisaffectedbyacombinationofselectivepressuresaccessto
nutrients,celldivision,attachment/dispersal,predationandmotility(amongothers).Among
thesedifferentfactors,ourunderstandingoftherelationshipbetweenmotilityandcellshapeis
mostcompleteforexample,highlymotilebacteriaareusuallyrodswithaspecific(optimal)
shapeandsize,andmovementthroughviscousfluidsseemstoafavorspiralshape.But
sincemultipleselectiveforcesarealwaysinplay,thereisatthemomentnowaytopredictcell
shapebasedontheenvironmentorviceversa.
ShapeMatters:Whybacteriacarehowtheylook ThisarticlehighlightsKevin'sworkexplaining
whyshapesmatterforbacteriaandtheytakeitseriouslyforsurvival.
Soadaptationstovariousenvironmentscouldbepossiblebutdependingupontheenvironment
wecannotpredicttheshapeofbacteriabecausesomeotherfactormighthaveplayedmajorrole
ingivingshapetoit.Buttheabovementioned3mainfactorsgivessomeexplanation.
answeredOct10'13at11:36

PradeepS
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Asforhowcertainbacteriaachievetheirshapes,thecellwallplaysanimportantrole.Almostall
bacteriahaveacellwallmadeofasubstancecalledpeptidoglycan,ameshofpeptidesand
saccharidesthatprovidesrigidityandstrengthtothebacteria.Thiswallisproducedthrougha
complexseriesofstepsthatstartsinsidethecell,wherethepeptideandsugarunitsareattached
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microbiologyWhydodifferentbacteriahavedifferentshapes?BiologyStackExchange

toalipidtomakeacompoundcalledLipidII.However,LipidIImustbeflippedtotheouterlayerof
thecellmembranetodeliverthepeptidesandsugarstothegrowingcellwall.Theproteins
responsibleforflippingtheLipidIIarebelievedtobeFtsW,RodA,andSpoVE.FtsWis
consideredthemainenzymeformostcellgrowth.RodAisfoundinrodshapedbacteriaandis
considerednecessaryforcellelongation.SpoVEisusedtobuildthethickcellwallsofbacterial
spores.BycontrollinghowLipidIIisdeliveredtothegrowingcellwall,theseproteinsplayarole
incontrollingcellshape.
References:
StructuralsimilarityamongEscherichiacoliFtsWandRodAproteinsandBacillussubtilis
SpoVEprotein,whichfunctionincelldivision,cellelongation,andsporeformation,
respectively.
SpecificityofthetransportofLipidIIbyFtsWinEscherichiacoli
editedAug2'14at20:43

answeredAug2'14at19:13

Chris
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protectedbyChris Sep19'14at14:06
Thankyouforyourinterestinthisquestion.Becauseithasattractedlowqualityorspamanswersthathadtoberemoved,postingananswernowrequires10reputation
onthissite(theassociationbonusdoesnotcount).
Wouldyouliketoansweroneoftheseunansweredquestions instead?

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