Fine Literature: Bacterial Shape – Not a Small Thing

by Elio
 

Figure 1. For the legend, refer to the pa­per. Source.

From time to time, I will list review articles that I found in­spiring and enlightening. To start with, I greatly enjoyed the following:

Kevin D. Young. 2006. The Selective Value of Bacterial Shape. Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews, 70 (3), 660–703 PMID 16959965

To quote from the first paragraph:

To be brutally honest, few people care that bacteria have different shapes. Which is a shame, because the bacteria seem to care very much. A simple way to verify this is to take a leisurely stroll through Ber­gey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology or The Prokaryotes, pausing to admire the sur­­prising and bewildering riot of shapes, sizes, and aggregates, some of which are illus­trated in Fig. 1.

 

 

 

 

Comments

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I have an interview for a postdoc next week, working in exactly this area. Hopefully I will be able to help shed some light on this neglected area of research - if I get the job that is ;)