Suppression of a Thermosensitive zipA Cell Division Mutant by Altering Amino Acid Metabolism

ZipA is essential for cell division inEscherichia coli , acting early in the process to anchor polymers of FtsZ to the cytoplasmic membrane. Along with FtsA, FtsZ and ZipA form a proto-ring at midcell that recruits additional proteins to eventually build the division septum. Cells carrying the thermosensitivezipA1 allele divide fairly normally at 30°C in rich medium but cease dividing at temperatures above 34°C, forming long filaments. In a search for suppressors of thezipA1 allele, we found that deletions of specific genes involved in amino acid biosynthesis could partially rescue cell growth and division at 34°C or 37°C but not at 42°C. Notably, although a diverse group of amino acid biosynthesis gene deletions could partially rescue the growth ofzipA1 cells at 34°C, only deletions of genes related to the biosynthesis of threonine, glycine, serine, and methionine could rescue growth at 37°C. Adding exogenous pyridoxal 5-phosphate (PLP), a cofactor for many of the enzymes affected by this study, partially suppressedzipA1 mutant thermosensitivity. For many of the deletions, PLP had an additive rescuing effect on thezipA1 mutant. Moreover, added PLP partially suppressed the thermosensitivity offtsQ andftsK mutants and weakly suppressed anftsI mutant, but it failed to suppressftsA orftsZ thermosensitive mutants. Along with the ability of a deletion ofmetC to partially suppress theftsK mutant, our results suggest that perturbations of amino acid metabolic pathways, particularly those that redirect the flow of carbon away from the synthesis of threonine, glycine, or methionine, are able to partially rescue some cell division defects.IMPORTANCE Cell division of bacteria, such asEscherichia coli , is essential for their successful colonization. It is becoming increasingly clear that nutritional status and central metabolism can affect bacterial size and shape; for example, a metabolic enzyme (OpgH) can moonlight as a regulator of FtsZ, an essential cell division protein. Here, we demonstrate a link between amino acid metabolism and ZipA, another essential cell division protein that binds directly to FtsZ and tethers it to the cytoplasmic membrane. Our evidence suggests that altering flux through the methionine-threonine-glycine-serine pathways and supplementing with the enzyme cofactor pyridoxal-5-phosphate can partially compensate for an otherwise lethal defect in ZipA, as well as several other cell division proteins.