title: Size-independent symmetric division in extraordinarily long cells.
abstract: Two long-standing paradigms in biology are that cells belonging to the same population exhibit little deviation from their average size and that symmetric cell division is size limited. Here, ultrastructural, morphometric and immunocytochemical analyses reveal that two Gammaproteobacteria attached to the cuticle of the marine nematodes Eubostrichus fertilis and E. dianeae reproduce by constricting a single FtsZ ring at midcell despite being 45 μm and 120 μm long, respectively. In the crescent-shaped bacteria coating E. fertilis, symmetric FtsZ-based fission occurs in cells with lengths spanning one order of magnitude. In the E. dianeae symbiont, formation of a single functional FtsZ ring makes this the longest unicellular organism in which symmetric division has ever been observed. In conclusion, the reproduction modes of two extraordinarily long bacterial cells indicate that size is not the primary trigger of division and that yet unknown mechanisms time the localization of both DNA and the septum.
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Ecogenomics and Systems Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria [2].
authors.forename: Nika
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pende
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Ecogenomics and Systems Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria [2].
authors.forename: Nikolaus
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Leisch
authors.affiliation: Department of Symbiosis, Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Celsiusstrasse 1, D-28359 Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Harald R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Gruber-Vodicka
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecogenomics and Systems Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Niels R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Heindl
authors.affiliation: Department of Limnology and Biooceanography, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ott
authors.affiliation: Department of Bacterial Cell Biology, Swammerdam Institute of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Tanneke
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: den Blaauwen
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Ecogenomics and Systems Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria [2] Center for Anatomy and Cell Biology, Medical University of Vienna, Währingerstrasse 10, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bulgheresi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D059001:Aquatic Organisms; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D002455:Cell Division; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D020563:Gammaproteobacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D015870:Gene Expression; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009348:Nematoda / Q000382:microbiology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics*; D013559:Symbiosis / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; C071525:FtsZ protein, Bacteria; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S