title: Excess membrane synthesis drives a primitive mode of cell proliferation.
abstract: The peptidoglycan cell wall is a hallmark of the bacterial subkingdom. Surprisingly, many modern bacteria retain the ability to switch into a wall-free state called the L-form. L-form proliferation is remarkable in being independent of the normally essential FtsZ-based division machinery and in occurring by membrane blebbing and tubulation. We show that mutations leading to excess membrane synthesis are sufficient to drive L-form division in Bacillus subtilis. Artificially increasing the cell surface area to volume ratio in wild-type protoplasts generates similar shape changes and cell division. Our findings show that simple biophysical processes could have supported efficient cell proliferation during the evolution of early cells and provide an extant biological model for studying this problem.
authors: Centre for Bacterial Cell Biology, Institute for Cell and Molecular Biosciences, Medical School, Newcastle University, Richardson Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4AX, UK.
authors: Romain
authors: R
authors: Mercier
authors: Yoshikazu
authors: Y
authors: Kawai
authors: Jeff
authors: J
authors: Errington
mesh_terms: D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002455:Cell Division; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism*; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000378:metabolism; D064429:Fatty Acid Synthases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D007740:L Forms / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D008316:Malonyl Coenzyme A / Q000378:metabolism; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010457:Peptidoglycan / Q000378:metabolism; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011523:Protoplasts / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D010457:Peptidoglycan; D008316:Malonyl Coenzyme A; D064429:Fatty Acid Synthases