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Deformation of Filamentous Escherichia coli Cells in a Microfluidic Device: A New Technique to Study Cell Mechanics

Figure 3

Relaxation of growing and non-growing cells.

(A) Relaxation of a non-growing cell to its native conformation after the flow was minimized. The cell relaxed to its initial conformation after 1.5 min. Inset - the conformation of the cell before the force was applied. (B) Changes in the deformation of a growing cell after the flow was stopped. The cell straightened up a bit but continued to grow in a curved conformation. In both cases, the original flow was and it was stopped or minimized after the first time point as described in the text.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0083775.g003