Erratum for the Report: “Treadmilling by FtsZ filaments drives peptidoglycan synthesis and bacterial cell division” by A. W. Bisson-Filho, Y.-P. Hsu, G. R. Squyres, E. Kuru, F. Wu, C. Jukes, Y. Sun, C. Dekker, S. Holden, M. S. VanNieuwenhze, Y. V. Brun, E. C. Garner

AbstractThe mechanism of bacterial cell division is largely unknown. The protein machinery performing cell division is organized by FtsZ, a tubulin-homolog that forms treadmilling filaments at the cell division site. Treadmilling is thought to actively move proteins around the cell thereby distributing peptidoglycan synthesis to make two new cell poles. To understand this process, we reconstituted part of the bacterial cell division machinery using the purified components FtsZ, FtsA and truncated transmembrane proteins essential for cell division. We found that membrane-bound cytosolic peptides of FtsN and FtsQ co-migrated with treadmilling FtsZ-FtsA filaments. Remarkably, rather than moving in a directed fashion, individual peptides followed FtsZ filaments by a diffusion-and-capture mechanism. Our work provides a mechanism for how the Z-ring dynamically recruits divisome proteins and highlights the importance of transient interactions for the self-organization of complex biological structures. We propose that this mechanism is used more widely to organize and transmit spatiotemporal information in living cells.One Sentence SummaryFtsZ treadmilling assembles bacterial division machinery by diffusion-and-capture mechanism.

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Treadmilling by FtsZ filaments drives peptidoglycan synthesis and bacterial cell division

10.1101/077560 ◽

2016 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Alexandre W. Bisson Filho ◽

Yen-Pang Hsu ◽

Georgia R. Squyres ◽

Erkin Kuru ◽

Fabai Wu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cell Wall ◽

Cell Division ◽

Division Ring ◽

Bacterial Cell ◽

Cytoplasmic Membrane ◽

Bacterial Cell Division ◽

Cell Wall Synthesis ◽

Division Plane ◽

Peptidoglycan Synthesis

AbstractHow bacteria produce a septum to divide in two is not well understood. This process is mediated by periplasmic cell-wall producing enzymes that are positioned by filaments of the cytoplasmic membrane-associated actin FtsA and the tubulin FtsZ (FtsAZ). To understand how these components act in concert to divide cells, we visualized their movements relative to the dynamics of cell wall synthesis during cytokinesis. We find that the division septum is built at discrete sites that move around the division plane. Furthermore, FtsAZ filaments treadmill in circumferential paths around the division ring, pulling along the associated cell-wall-synthesizing enzymes. We show that the rate of FtsZ treadmilling controls both the rate of cell wall synthesis and cell division. The coupling of both the position and activity of the cell wall synthases to FtsAZ treadmilling guides the progressive insertion of new cell wall, synthesizing increasingly small concentric rings to divide the cell.One-sentence summaryBacterial cytokinesis is controlled by circumferential treadmilling of FtsAZ filaments that drives the insertion of new cell wall.

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