RNase E maintenance of proper FtsZ/FtsA ratio required for nonfilamentous growth of Escherichia coli cells but not for colony-forming ability.
Inactivation or deletion of the RNase E-encoding rne gene of Escherichia coli results in the growth of bacterial cells as filamentous chains in liquid culture (K. Goldblum and D. Apirion, J. Bacteriol. 146:128-132, 1981) and the loss of colony-forming ability (CFA) on solid media. RNase E dysfunction is also associated with abnormal processing of ftsQAZ transcripts (K. Cam, G. Rome, H. M. Krisch, and J.-P. Bouché, Nucleic Acids Res. 24:3065-3070, 1996), which encode proteins having a central role in septum formation during cell division. We show here that RNase E regulates the relative abundances of FtsZ and FtsA proteins and that RNase E depletion results in decreased FtsZ, increased FtsA, and consequently an altered FtsZ/FtsA ratio. However, while restoration of the level of FtsZ to normal in rne null mutant bacteria reverses the filamentation phenotype, it does not restore CFA. Conversely, overexpression of a related RNase, RNase G, in rne-deleted bacteria restores CFA, as previously reported, without affecting FtsZ abundance. Our results demonstrate that RNase E activity is required to maintain a proper cellular ratio of the FtsZ and FtsA proteins in E. coli but that FtsZ deficiency does not account for the nonviability of cells lacking RNase E.
Tamura
Masaru
M
Stanford University School of Medicine, Department of Genetics, 300 Pasteur Drive, Stanford, CA 94305-5120, USA.
Lee
Kangseok
K
Miller
Christine A
CA
Moore
Christopher J
CJ
Shirako
Yukio
Y
Kobayashi
Masahiko
M
Cohen
Stanley N
SN
D003470:Culture Media; D004722:Endoribonucleases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D010957:Plasmids; D015183:Restriction Mapping
D003470:Culture Media; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; C489310:FtsA protein, E coli; C076835:FtsZ84 protein, E coli; D004722:Endoribonucleases; C022537:ribonuclease E