Before revision: The mechanical properties of gram-negative bacteria are governed by a rigid peptidoglycan (PG) cell wall and the turgor pressure generated by the large concentration of solutes in the cytoplasm. The elasticity of the PG has been measured in bulk and in isolated sacculi and shown to be compliant compared to the overall stiffness of the cell itself. However, the stiffness of the cell wall in live cells has not been measured. In particular, the effects that pressure-induced stress might have on the stiffness of the mesh-like PG network have not been addressed even though polymeric materials often exhibit large amounts of stress-stiffening. We study bulging Escherichia coli cells using atomic force microscopy to separate the contributions of the cell wall and turgor pressure to the overall cell stiffness.
After revision: We study intact and bulging Escherichia coli cells using atomic force microscopy to separate the contributions of the cell wall and turgor pressure to the overall cell stiffness.