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Significance The most abundant biopolymer, cellulose, is utilized as cellular structural scaffolding capable of harboring life from plants to bacteria. Bacteria produce cellulose in biofilms as a means of physical… Click to show full abstract
Significance The most abundant biopolymer, cellulose, is utilized as cellular structural scaffolding capable of harboring life from plants to bacteria. Bacteria produce cellulose in biofilms as a means of physical and chemical protection. Using optical tweezers, we directly measure cellulose polymerization from surface-tethered, nanodisc-bound bacterial cellulose synthase AB complexes. Cellulose biosynthesis is highly processive, maintains a tight grip, and is accompanied by conformational hopping, suggesting that local folding of the fiber may help transport the native strand forward. Stretching of individual cellulose strands exhibits hysteresis due to microstructure unfolding and reveals a persistence length of ∼6 nm and an axial stiffness of ∼40 pN.
Journal Title: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Year Published: 2022
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