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Bacterial cell division: regulating Z‐ring formation
Author(s) -
Harry E. J.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
molecular microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.857
H-Index - 247
eISSN - 1365-2958
pISSN - 0950-382X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2958.2001.02370.x
Subject(s) - nucleoid , ftsz , caulobacter crescentus , cell division , bacillus subtilis , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , cytoplasm , ring (chemistry) , escherichia coli , cell , cell cycle , genetics , bacteria , chemistry , gene , organic chemistry
The earliest stage of cell division in bacteria is the formation of a Z ring, composed of a polymer of the FtsZ protein, at the division site. Z rings appear to be synthesized in a bi‐directional manner from a nucleation site (NS) located on the inside of the cytoplasmic membrane. It is the utilization of a NS specifically at the site of septum formation that determines where and when division will occur. However, a Z ring can be made to form at positions other than at the division site. How does a cell regulate utilization of a NS at the correct location and at the right time? In rod‐shaped bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis , two factors involved in this regulation are the Min system and nucleoid occlusion. It is suggested that in B. subtilis , the main role of the Min proteins is to inhibit division at the nucleoid‐free cell poles. In E. coli it is currently not clear whether the Min system can direct a Z ring to the division site at mid‐cell or whether its main role is to ensure that division inhibition occurs away from mid‐cell, a role analogous to that in B. subtilis . While the nucleoid negatively influences Z‐ring formation in its vicinity in these rod‐shaped organisms, the exact relationship between nucleoid occlusion and the ability to form a mid‐cell Z ring is unresolved. Recent evidence suggests that in B. subtilis and Caulobacter crescentus , utilization of the NS at the division site is intimately linked to the progress of a round of chromosome replication and this may form the basis of achieving co‐ordination between chromosome replication and cell division.