Curvature Relocation of MreB Using AFM Control of Cell Shape

Abstract

The proteın MreB has been found to be crucial to the structure and shape determination of a set of rod-shaped bacteria. In this experiment, the cell wall curvature of an Escherichia coli bacterium is modified using an atomic force microscope, and the localization response of MreB recorded in vivo using a combination of fluorescence microscopy and a recently developed technique for three-dimensional reconstruction using forward deconvolution and an active contour model. The goal of this work is to prove and provide initial results from a method for examining the relationship between cell wall curvature and MreB distribution, providing data for a mechanism regulating cell shape in an important model bacterium. A functional method was established, and initial data show no connection but are inconclusive.