Cell division of Staphylococcus adopts a “popping” mechanism that mediates extremely rapid separation of the septum. Elucidating the structure of the septum is crucial for understanding this exceptional bacterial cell division mechanism. Here, the septum structure of Staphylococcus warneri was extensively characterized using high-speed time-lapse confocal microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and electron microscopy. The cells of S. warneri divide in a fast popping manner on a millisecond timescale. Our results show that the septum is composed of two separable layers, providing a structural basis for the ultrafast daughter cell separation. The septum is formed progressively toward the center with nonuniform thickness of the septal disk in radial directions. The peptidoglycan on the inner surface of double-layered septa is organized into concentric rings, which are generated along with septum formation. Moreover, this study signifies the importance of new septum formation in initiating new cell cycles. This work unravels the structural basis underlying the popping mechanism that drives S. warneri cell division and reveals a generic structure of the bacterial cell.

中文翻译：

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使用原子力显微镜对华氏葡萄球菌隔膜形成的结构可视化。

葡萄球菌的细胞分裂采用“爆裂”机制，介导隔膜极快速地分离。阐明隔膜的结构对于理解这种特殊的细菌细胞分裂机制至关重要。在这里，使用高速延时共聚焦显微镜、原子力显微镜和电子显微镜对华氏葡萄球菌的隔膜结构进行了广泛的表征。华氏链球菌的细胞以毫秒级的速度快速分裂。我们的结果表明，隔膜由两层可分离的层组成，为超快速子细胞分离提供了结构基础。隔膜朝着中心逐渐形成，隔膜盘在径向上的厚度不均匀。双层隔膜内表面的肽聚糖组织成同心环，这些同心环是随着隔膜的形成而产生的。此外，这项研究表明新隔膜形成在启动新细胞周期中的重要性。这项工作揭示了驱动沃氏链球菌细胞分裂的爆裂机制的结构基础，并揭示了细菌细胞的通用结构。