Evidence for diffuse growth of the cylindrical portion of the Escherichia coli murein sacculus

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Abstract
High-resolution autoradiography of thin sections of E. coli cells whose murein was pulse-labeled with [3H]diaminopimelic acid after a period of diaminopimelic acid deprivation indicated that elongation of the murein sacculus occurs by a multisite (diffuse) process. Upon chasing, radioactivity in polar murein was stable, whereas radioactivity in cylindrical murein was reduced, indicating that diffuse intercalation of new murein occurred during cell elongation. Elongation and septation are overlapping processes.