Affiliation:
1. Department of Cell Biology, Box 3709, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710
Abstract
SUMMARY
FtsZ, a bacterial homolog of tubulin, is well established as forming the cytoskeletal framework for the cytokinetic ring. Recent work has shown that purified FtsZ, in the absence of any other division proteins, can assemble Z rings when incorporated inside tubular liposomes. Moreover, these artificial Z rings can generate a constriction force, demonstrating that FtsZ is its own force generator. Here we review light microscope observations of how Z rings assemble in bacteria. Assembly begins with long-pitch helices that condense into the Z ring. Once formed, the Z ring can transition to short-pitch helices that are suggestive of its structure. FtsZ assembles
in vitro
into short protofilaments that are ∼30 subunits long. We present models for how these protofilaments might be further assembled into the Z ring. We discuss recent experiments on assembly dynamics of FtsZ
in vitro
, with particular attention to how two regulatory proteins, SulA and MinC, inhibit assembly. Recent efforts to develop antibacterial drugs that target FtsZ are reviewed. Finally, we discuss evidence of how FtsZ generates a constriction force: by protofilament bending into a curved conformation.
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Subject
Molecular Biology,Microbiology,Infectious Diseases
Cited by
523 articles.
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