Shape is not everything. The point, though, is that
morphology is a significant selectable trait and that it
can be approached experimentally like any other subject.
As we understand more about the mechanisms that
regulate cell shape we may soon be able to manipulate
bacterial morphology with enough confidence to ask how
morphological changes affect survival in different conditions.
And as evidence accumulates for the utility of cell
shape, we can hope that investigators will be motivated to
ask these types of questions more directly