Division genes in Escherichia coli are expressed coordinately to cell septum requirements by gearbox promoters

Abstract

The cell division ftsQAZ cluster and the ftsZ-dependent bolA morphogene of Escherichia coli are found to be driven by gearboxes, a distinct class of promoters characterized by showing an activity that is inversely dependent on growth rate. These promoters contain specific sequences upstream from the mRNA start point, and their -10 region is essential for the inverse growth rate dependence. Gearbox promoters are essential for driving ftsQAZ and bolA gene expression so that the encoded products are synthesized at constant amounts per cell independently of cell size. This mode of regulation would be expected for the expression of proteins that either play a regulatory role in cell division or form a stoichiometric component of the septum, a structure that, independently of cell size and growth rate, is produced once per cell cycle.