The Mechanobiology of Buckling during Bacterial Filamentation

Bacteria employ various strategies to survive environmental stress. One of these strategies is filamentation where bacterial cells elongate, replicate their genetic material but do not divide. This adaptive response, essential for survival, is also associated with virulence. In this talk I will review our research on the topic where we have focused on understanding the mechanobiology cues driving this process and their implications. Thus, using quantitative fluorescent time-lapse microscopy, micropatterning, modeling, microfluidics, and FRAP we reveal how Min dynamics is coupled to the mechanical stress originating from bacterial filamentation and ultimately influences the post-stress bacterial division process.