Why do different bacteria have different shapes?

Question

Why do different bacteria have different shapes? Is it only related to their function?

Answer 1

Reasons for Bacteria with different shapes as given in Wikipedia/Bacteria:

The wide variety of shapes is determined by the bacterial cell wall and cytoskeleton, and is important because it can influence the ability of bacteria to acquire nutrients, attach to surfaces, swim through liquids and escape predators.

There is an article based on research by Kevin D. Young Bacterial morphology: Why have different shapes? which highlights 3 main points which defines the shape of Bacteria:

1. Nutrient uptake: Cell shape, in and of itself, affects nutrient acquisition and argues that other nutritional situations may create conditions that favor one bacterial shape over another.
2. Motility: Motility imposes a heavy selective pressure on cell shape. Fast cells are better off as rods with a certain length-to-width ratio, chemotactic cells must adopt shape ratios in line with their environments, and cells that forage near surfaces or navigate viscous environments may do best if they are slightly curved or spiral.
3. Predation: In their struggle against being eaten, bacteria have adopted morphological defenses that may have produced the wealth of shapes we now observe.

These factors play a role in shaping bacteria. Further he explains what in general gives the shape to bacteria:

Bacterial morphology is affected by a combination of selective pressures - access to nutrients, cell division, attachment/dispersal, predation and motility (among others). Among these different factors, our understanding of the relationship between motility and cell shape is most complete; for example, highly motile bacteria are usually rods with a specific (optimal) shape and size, and movement through viscous fluids seems to a favor spiral shape. But since multiple selective forces are always in play, there is at the moment no way to predict cell shape based on the environment or vice versa.

Shape Matters: Why bacteria care how they look - This article highlights Kevin's work explaining why shapes matter for bacteria and they take it seriously for survival.

So adaptations to various environments could be possible but depending upon the environment we can not predict the shape of bacteria because some other factor might have played major role in giving shape to it. But the above mentioned 3 main factors gives some explanation.

Answer 2

As for how certain bacteria achieve their shapes, the cell wall plays an important role. Almost all bacteria have a cell wall made of a substance called peptidoglycan, a mesh of peptides and saccharides that provides rigidity and strength to the bacteria. This wall is produced through a complex series of steps that starts inside the cell, where the peptide and sugar units are attached to a lipid to make a compound called Lipid II. However, Lipid II must be flipped to the outer layer of the cell membrane to deliver the peptides and sugars to the growing cell wall. The proteins responsible for flipping the Lipid II are believed to be FtsW, RodA, and SpoVE. FtsW is considered the main enzyme for most cell growth. RodA is found in rod shaped bacteria and is considered necessary for cell elongation. SpoVE is used to build the thick cell walls of bacterial spores. By controlling how Lipid II is delivered to the growing cell wall, these proteins play a role in controlling cell shape.

References:

• Structural similarity among Escherichia coli FtsW and RodA proteins and Bacillus subtilis SpoVE protein, which function in cell division, cell elongation, and spore formation, respectively.
• Specificity of the transport of Lipid II by FtsW in Escherichia coli