User:Pakpoom Subsoontorn/Notebook/Shape Determination in Bacteria/2008/10/24

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Entry title Insert content here... Note from KC Dear Ton, The computer with AutoCAD is now hooked up to the internet... The experiments I was proposing about low levels of vancomycin and their effect on cell length are as follows. If you look at Fig. 3 in our paper, the length of the cell increases roughly linearly as a function of concentration of defects. This would be a great prediction to test, even if just completely qualitatively. One could add vancomycin in low concentration, and watch the evolution of the length distribution as a function of time. (The concentrations we are using in the paper to see cracked cells are very high, we were in fact surprised the cells survived as long as they did.) The key in these experiments is to measure the length and the division times of the cells (for which we'd have to track individual cells in the MF channel). The cell can certainly grow longer for the same amount of peptidoglycan insertion, so I would imagine either the cells will grow to longer average lengths, or if they divide at the same lengths, then they can divide faster. (It's important that the defect concentrations in Fig. 3 are biologically relevant, so it shouldn't be too hard to access this range). Let me know if other questions. Best, KC