Scientists from the University of Sheffield have produced the first high-resolution images of the structure of the cell wall of bacteria, in a study that could further understanding of antimicrobial resistance.
The research, published in Nature, revealed a new and unexpected structure of the outer bacterial layers of the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus.
The findings set a new framework for understanding how bacteria grow and how antibiotics work, overturning previous theories about the structure of the outer bacterial layers.
The images give unprecedented insight into the composition of the bacterial cell wall and will inform new approaches to developing antibiotics in order to combat antibiotic resistance. There are no other examples of studies of the cell wall in any organism at comparable resolution, down to the molecular scale.
Laia Pasquina Lemonche, a PhD Researcher from the University of Sheffield’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, said: “Many antibiotics work by inhibiting the bacteria’s production of a cell wall, a strong but permeable skin around the bacteria which is critical for its survival.
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