Bacterial cell membrane and cell wall structure

The **bacterial cell membrane** is a phospholipid bilayer interspersed with proteins, serving as a selectively permeable barrier, a platform for energy transduction (e.g., proton motive force), and the site for many transport, biosynthetic, and signaling processes[4][5][7]. The **bacterial cell wall** is primarily composed of **peptidoglycan** (murein), a network of glycan chains (alternating N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetylmuramic acid) cross-linked by peptides, conferring structural rigidity and shape and protecting against osmotic lysis[1][2][6]. In **Gram-positive bacteria**, the wall is thick and may contain teichoic acids; in **Gram-negative bacteria**, the wall is thinner and covered by an additional outer membrane containing lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which acts as an endotoxin[2][4][6]. Both structures play crucial roles in bacterial physiology and virulence, and are major targets for numerous antibiotics, which exploit unique features of the bacterial envelope for selective toxicity[2][6][8]. Because "Bacterial cell membrane and cell wall structures" refers to *general structural classes* rather than a specific, single molecule or standard drug target, its use as a canonical target designation is imprecise and would need further specification for structured data extraction[6][8].

Other names

Bacterial envelopeCell envelopePlasma membrane and cell wall of bacteria

Inhibition of peptidoglycan biosynthesis (beta-lactams, glycopeptides, fosfomycin) - Disruption and depolarization of cell membrane (polymyxins, daptomycin) - Inhibition of cell wall precursor synthesis or crosslinking