Bend into shape

Bacteria come in a variety of shapes, as most species elaborate on the default sphere to resemble ovoids, rods, bend rods, spirals, branched laments or other more complicated forms. How cells that are under considerable turgor pressure maintain a nonspherical shape is unclear, though it is known to depend on structural elements on either side of the cytoplasmic membrane: the murein (peptidoglycan) sacculus on the outside, and forerunners of the eukaryotic cytoskeleton on the inside.