Fig. 1

Comparison of growth and cross-wall formation in wild-type and ∆ftsZ cells. a growth and re-streaking of ΔftsZ and wild-type cells on TBO agar plates. Top panel shows growth of the strains from freezer stocks. Bottom panel shows cell regrowth in both mutant and wild-type from three independent colonies following growth at 30 °C for 3 days. b, c representative images of wild-type (b) and ΔftsZ mutant (c) cells growth in our home-made microfluidic device in the presence of GYM media. Cell membranes were stained with FM4-64 dye. Note the presence of cross-walls in wild-type cells. White arrows indicate cell branching in the ΔftsZ mutant. Scale bar = 10 µm. d, e representative image of wild-type (d) and ΔftsZ mutant (e) cells growth in GYM media in the CellASIC ONIX microfluidic chamber. Cell wall was labelled with 50 µM NADA. Scale bar = 5 µm