title: PomZ, a ParA-like protein, regulates Z-ring formation and cell division in Myxococcus xanthus.
abstract: Accurate positioning of the division site is essential to generate appropriately sized daughter cells with the correct chromosome number. In bacteria, division generally depends on assembly of the tubulin homologue FtsZ into the Z-ring at the division site. Here, we show that lack of the ParA-like protein PomZ in Myxococcus xanthus resulted in division defects with the formation of chromosome-free minicells and filamentous cells. Lack of PomZ also caused reduced formation of Z-rings and incorrect positioning of the few Z-rings formed. PomZ localization is cell cycle regulated, and PomZ accumulates at the division site at midcell after chromosome segregation but prior to FtsZ as well as in the absence of FtsZ. FtsZ displayed cooperative GTP hydrolysis in vitro but did not form detectable filaments in vitro. PomZ interacted with FtsZ in M. xanthus cell extracts. These data show that PomZ is important for Z-ring formation and is a spatial regulator of Z-ring formation and cell division. The cell cycle-dependent localization of PomZ at midcell provides a mechanism for coupling cell cycle progression and Z-ring formation. Moreover, the data suggest that PomZ is part of a system that recruits FtsZ to midcell, thereby, restricting Z-ring formation to this position.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecophysiology, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Karl-von-Frisch Str. 10, 35043 Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Anke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Treuner-Lange
authors.forename: Kryssia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aguiluz
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: van der Does
authors.forename: Nuria
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gómez-Santos
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Harms
authors.forename: Dominik
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schumacher
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lenz
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hoppert
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kahnt
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Muñoz-Dorado
authors.forename: Lotte
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Søgaard-Andersen
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D002455:Cell Division; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D016941:Myxococcus xanthus / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D025941:Protein Interaction Mapping; D055503:Protein Multimerization
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; C071525:FtsZ protein, Bacteria; C052883:chromosome partition proteins, bacterial