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Review
. 2025 Mar;33(3):340-353.
doi: 10.1016/j.tim.2024.11.004. Epub 2024 Nov 29.

Bacterial peptidoglycan recycling

Michael C Gilmore  1 , Felipe Cava  2
Affiliations
Free article
Review

Bacterial peptidoglycan recycling

Michael C Gilmore et al. Trends Microbiol. 2025 Mar.
Free article

Abstract

During growth and division, the bacterial cell wall is remodeled, resulting in the liberation of peptidoglycan (PG) fragments which are typically reinternalized and recycled. Recycling of PG has been studied in a few model species, but its importance and diversity are not yet well understood. Here, we review how bacteria transport and recycle the components of their PG, highlighting updates and new findings.

Keywords: GlcNAc; MurNAc; bacterial cell wall; muropeptide; peptidoglycan recycling.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests.

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