Elongation of the murein sacculus of Escherichia coli.

Elongation is an orderly multisite process in which, at each of about 90 growth points, two strands of murein are concurrently being synthesized, inserted and cross-linked to the sacculus. The enzymes involved move around the circumference of the cytoplasmic membrane at a rate of about 5 nm per second as new strands are being inserted, and this rate is sufficient to double the length of the cell during the cell division cycle.