Asymmetric localization of the cell division machinery during Bacillus subtilis sporulation

eLife

Kit Pogliano¹  Elizabeth Villa¹  Javier Lopez-Garrido¹  Kanika Khanna¹  Joseph Sugie¹ 

[1] Division of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, United States;

关键词: cell division;    FtsZ;    FtsA;    SpoIIE;    peptidoglycan;    cryo-electron tomography;    B. subtilis;   

DOI  :  10.7554/eLife.62204

来源: eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd

【 摘 要 】

The Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis can divide via two modes. During vegetative growth, the division septum is formed at the midcell to produce two equal daughter cells. However, during sporulation, the division septum is formed closer to one pole to yield a smaller forespore and a larger mother cell. Using cryo-electron tomography, genetics and fluorescence microscopy, we found that the organization of the division machinery is different in the two septa. While FtsAZ filaments, the major orchestrators of bacterial cell division, are present uniformly around the leading edge of the invaginating vegetative septa, they are only present on the mother cell side of the invaginating sporulation septa. We provide evidence suggesting that the different distribution and number of FtsAZ filaments impact septal thickness, causing vegetative septa to be thicker than sporulation septa already during constriction. Finally, we show that a sporulation-specific protein, SpoIIE, regulates asymmetric divisome localization and septal thickness during sporulation.

【 授权许可】

CC BY