Bend into shape

Abstract

Bacteria come in a variety of shapes, as most species elaborate on the 'default' sphere to resemble ovoids, rods, bend rods, spirals, branched filaments or other more complicated forms. How cells that are under considerable turgor pressure maintain a nonspherical shape is unclear, though it is known to depend on structural elements on either side of the cytoplasmic membrane: the murein (peptidoglycan) sacculus on the outside, and forerunners of the eukaryotic cytoskeleton on the inside. In this issue, the results by Cabeen et al argue for one attractive mechanism whereby these elements cooperate to drive cellular morphogenesis. © 2009 European Molecular Biology Organization.