title: Splitsville: structural and functional insights into the dynamic bacterial Z ring.
abstract: Bacteria must divide to increase in number and colonize their niche. Binary fission is the most widespread means of bacterial cell division, but even this relatively simple mechanism has many variations on a theme. In most bacteria, the tubulin homologue FtsZ assembles into a ring structure, termed the Z ring, at the site of cytokinesis and recruits additional proteins to form a large protein machine - the divisome - that spans the membrane. In this Review, we discuss current insights into the regulation of the assembly of the Z ring and how the divisome drives membrane invagination and septal cell wall growth while flexibly responding to various cellular inputs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, McGovern Medical School, 6431 Fannin Street, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.|Biology Department, Canisius College, 2001 Main Street, Buffalo, New York 14208, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Haeusser
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, McGovern Medical School, 6431 Fannin Street, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Margolin
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000235:genetics; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D048749:Cytokinesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; C071525:FtsZ protein, Bacteria