title: Organization of FtsZ filaments in the bacterial division ring measured from polarized fluorescence microscopy.
abstract: Cytokinesis in bacteria is accomplished by a ring-shaped cell-division complex (the Z-ring). The primary component of the Z-ring is FtsZ, a filamentous tubulin homolog that serves as a scaffold for the recruitment of other cell-division-related proteins. FtsZ forms filaments and bundles. In the cell, it has been suggested that FtsZ filaments form the arcs of the ring and are aligned in the cell-circumferential direction. Using polarized fluorescence microscopy in live Escherichia coli cells, we measure the structural organization of FtsZ filaments in the Z-ring. The data suggest a disordered organization: a substantial portion of FtsZ filaments are aligned in the cell-axis direction. FtsZ organization in the Z-ring also appears to depend on the bacterial species. Taken together, the unique arrangement of FtsZ suggests novel unexplored mechanisms in bacterial cell division.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Whitaker Biomedical Engineering Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Fangwei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Si
authors.forename: Kimberly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Busiek
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Margolin
authors.forename: Sean X
authors.initials: SX
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016935:Caulobacter crescentus / Q000166:cytology*; D002455:Cell Division; D002470:Cell Survival; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000166:cytology*; D005454:Fluorescence Polarization; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D011336:Probability
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; C071525:FtsZ protein, Bacteria