Cell wall assembly in Bacillus subtilis: how spirals and spaces challenge paradigms

Although the bacterial cell wall has been the subject of decades of investigation, recent studies continue to generate novel and controversial models of its synthesis and assembly. Here we compare and contrast the transcompartmental biosyntheses of peptidoglycan and teichoic acid in Bacillus subtilis. In addition, the current paradigms of B. subtilis wall assembly and structure are distinguished from emerging models of murein insertion and …