Coordinated disassembly of the divisome complex in Escherichia coli.
The divisome is the macromolecular complex that carries out cell division in Escherichia coli. Every generation it must be assembled, and then disassembled so that the sequestered proteins can be recycled. Whilst the assembly process has been well studied, virtually nothing is known about the disassembly process. In this study, we have used super-resolution SIM imaging to monitor pairs of fluorescently tagged divisome proteins as they depart from the division septum. These simple binary comparisons indicated that disassembly occurs in a coordinated process that consists of at least five steps: [FtsZ, ZapA] ⇒ [ZipA, FtsA] ⇒ [FtsL, FtsQ] ⇒ [FtsI, FtsN] ⇒ [FtsN]. This sequence of events is remarkably similar to the assembly process, indicating that disassembly follows a first-in, first-out principle. A secondary observation from these binary comparisons was that FtsZ and FtsN formed division rings that were spatially separated throughout the division process. Thus the data indicate that the divisome structure can be visualized as two concentric rings; a proto-ring containing FtsZ and an FtsN-ring.
Structural Cellular Biology Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Okinawa, 904-0495, Japan.
Bill
B
Söderström
Center for Biomembrane Research, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, SE-106 91, Stockholm, Sweden.
Kiavash
K
Mirzadeh
Center for Biomembrane Research, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, SE-106 91, Stockholm, Sweden.
Stephen
S
Toddo
Center for Biomembrane Research, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, SE-106 91, Stockholm, Sweden.|Science for Life Laboratory, SE-171 21, Stockholm, Sweden.
Gunnar
G
von Heijne
Structural Cellular Biology Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Okinawa, 904-0495, Japan.
Ulf
U
Skoglund
Center for Biomembrane Research, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, SE-106 91, Stockholm, Sweden.
Daniel O
DO
Daley
D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002455:Cell Division / Q000502:physiology; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009154:Mutation
D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins