Comparison of gene expression among normally divided cells, elongated cells, spheroplasts at the beginning of growth, and enlarged spheroplasts at 43 h of growth in Lelliottia amnigena

Factors That Affect the Enlargement of Bacterial Protoplasts and Spheroplasts

Cell enlargement is essential for the microinjection of various substances into bacterial cells. The cell wall (peptidoglycan) inhibits cell enlargement. Thus, bacterial protoplasts/spheroplasts are used for enlargement because they lack cell wall. Though bacterial species that are capable of gene manipulation are limited, procedure for bacterial cell enlargement does not involve any gene manipulation technique. In order to prevent cell wall resynthesis during enlargement of protoplasts/spheroplasts, incubation media are supplemented with inhibitors of peptidoglycan biosynthesis such as penicillin. Moreover, metal ion composition in the incubation medium affects the properties of the plasma membrane. Therefore, in order to generate enlarged cells that are suitable for microinjection, metal ion composition in the medium should be considered. Experiment of bacterial protoplast or spheroplast enlargement is useful for studies on bacterial plasma membrane biosynthesis. In this paper, we have summarized the factors that influence bacterial cell enlargement.

Calcium ion induces outer membrane fusion of Deinococcus grandis spheroplasts to generate giant spheroplasts with multiple cytoplasms

Generally, enlarged spheroplasts of the Gram-negative bacterium Deinococcus grandis contain a single cytoplasm and a large periplasmic space. Enlargement of D. grandis spheroplasts requires the presence of divalent cation Ca2+ or Mg2+. In this study, we elucidated the effects of concentrations of these divalent cations on the enlargement of spheroplasts. We compared the cell sizes of the spheroplasts at five different concentrations (16.2, 62, 100, 200 and 333 mM) of CaCl2 or MgCl2. At the lowest concentration (16.2 mM) of CaCl2 or MgCl2, the inner membrane of D. grandis spheroplasts collapsed and the spheroplasts did not enlarge. At the highest concentration (333 mM) of CaCl2 or MgCl2, enlargement was inhibited. At 200 mM of CaCl2, the outer membranes of D. grandis spheroplasts were fused repeatedly, but the inner membranes were not fused. Thus, at 200 mM of CaCl2, giant cells that have multiple cytoplasms were observed and were ≥ 500 μm in diameter. However, cell fusions were not observed in any concentrations of MgCl2. This indicates that Ca2+ induces lipopolysaccharide dehydration more strongly than Mg2+ and outer membranes may be fused by hydrophobic bonding. Our findings show the different functions of Ca2+ and Mg2+ on the outer membrane stability.

Enlargement of Deinococcus grandis spheroplasts requires  Mg2+ or Ca2

While the cell wall strictly controls cell size and morphology in bacteria, spheroplasts lack cell walls and can become enlarged in growth medium under optimal conditions. Optimal conditions depend on the bacterial species. We frequently observed extreme enlargement of spheroplasts of the radiation-resistant bacterium Deinococcus grandis in Difco Marine Broth 2216, but not in TGY broth (a commonly used growth medium for Deinococcus). Thorough investigation of media components showed that the presence of Mg²⁺ or Ca²⁺ promoted extreme spheroplast enlargement, synthesizing the outer membrane. Our findings strongly suggest that Mg²⁺ or Ca²⁺ enlarges spheroplasts, which could change the lipid composition of the spheroplast membrane.