title: Dynamic compartmentalization of bacteria: accurate division in E. coli.
abstract: Positioning of the midcell division plane within the bacterium E. coli is controlled by the min system of proteins: MinC, MinD, and MinE. These proteins coherently oscillate from end to end of the bacterium. We present a reaction-diffusion model describing the diffusion of min proteins along the bacterium and their transfer between the cytoplasmic membrane and cytoplasm. Our model spontaneously generates protein oscillations in good agreement with experiments. We explore the oscillation stability, frequency, and wavelength as a function of protein concentration and bacterial length.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6, Canada.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Howard
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Rutenberg
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: de Vet
mesh_terms: D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases / Q000378:metabolism; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; C080466:MinC protein, Bacteria; C093548:MinE protein, E coli; D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases; C072069:MinD protein, E coli