Roles of FtsA and FtsZ in activation of division sites

Abstract

Increasing FtsZ induces the formation of minicells at cell poles but does not increase the frequency or timing of central divisions. A coordinate increase in both FtsZ and FtsA, however, increases the frequency of both polar and central divisions.

FIG. 1

The mra locus and the plasmids used in this work. The scale at the top is in kilobase pairs. Coding regions are shown as boxes, labelled as follows: z, mraZ; w, mraW; L, ftsL; I, ftsI (pbpB); E, murE; F, murF; Y, mraY; D, murD; W, ftsW; G, murG; C, murC; B, ddlB; Q, ftsQ; A, ftsA; Z, ftsZ; V, envA. The approximate positions of known promoters are shown as the points of the arrowheads, and the terminator is shown as a stem loop. The positions of frameshift insertions in plasmids are shown as asterisks.

FIG. 2

Increased division in minB mutants overexpressing ftsA and ftsZ. Cell length distributions of exponential populations in nutrient broth at 37°C. (A) P678 (parental strain); (B) P678-54 (minB); (C) P678-54/pZAQ; (D) P678-54/pZ*AQ; (E) P678-54/pZA*Q; (F) P678-54/pZAQ*.