Morphogenesis of Escherichia coli

Morphogenesis of the rod-shaped Escherichia coli is determined by controlle d growth of an exoskeleton made of murein (peptidoglycan). Recent insights in the growth strategy of the stress-bearing murein sacculus has contribute d to our understanding of how the required concerted action of murein polym erizing and hydrolyzing enzymes is achieved. The proteins involved are coor dinated by the formation of multienzyme complexes. In this review, we summa rize the recent results on murein structure and metabolism. On the basis of these findings, we present a model that explains maintenance of the specif ic rod shape of E. coli.