Growth-dependent concentration gradient of the oscillating Min system inEscherichia coli

Abstract

SummaryThe Min system contributes to the spatiotemporal regulation of division sites inEscherichia coli. The MinD and MinE proteins of this system self-organize into oscillatory waves in the form of concentration gradients. How the intracellular Min protein concentration gradients are coordinated with cell growth to achieve spatiotemporal accuracy of cell division is unknown. Here, we report that the MinD concentration gradient becomes progressively steeper as cells elongate, suggesting that the division inhibitory activity at the midcell also decreases with cell growth. Interestingly, the oscillation period appears relatively stable across different cell lengths. Similar features were found in cells under carbon stress conditions, but the gradient was even steeper, likely favoring division at shorter cell lengths. The length-dependent variation of the concentration gradient was further examinedin silicousing a reaction-diffusion model, which not only supported the above features, but also revealed a decrease in the midcell concentration as the shape of the gradient becomes steeper in growing cells. This growth-dependent regulation of the midcell concentration of MinD may be coupled with the FtsZ ring formation through the MinD-interacting protein MinC. We found that the variable concentration gradients occur by coordinating the reaction rates of the recruitment of MinD and MinE to the membrane and the recharging of MinD with ATP in the cytoplasm. In conclusion, this work uncovers the plasticity of MinD concentration gradients during interpolar oscillations throughout cell growth, an intrinsic property integrated during cell division.