Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 19, 2026

Visual and Microscopic Evaluation of Streptomyces Developmental Mutants
Published on: September 12, 2018
Cell division is dispensable but not irrelevant in Streptomyces
1Department of Biological Sciences, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA 15282, USA. mccormick@duq.edu
Abstract:
In part, members of the genus Streptomyces have been studied because they produce many important secondary metabolites with antibiotic activity and for the interest in their relatively elaborate life cycle. These sporulating filamentous bacteria are remarkably synchronous for division and genome segregation in specialized aerial hyphae. Streptomycetes share some, but not all, of the division genes identified in the historic model rod-shaped organisms. Curiously, normally essential cell division genes are dispensable for growth and viability of Streptomyces coelicolor. Mainly, cell division plays a more important role in the developmental phase of life than during vegetative growth. Dispensability provides an advantageous genetic system to probe the mechanisms of division proteins, especially those with functions that are poorly understood.
Related Concept Videos
Binary Fission
Binary Fission
Molecular Factors Affecting Cell Division
Several proteins function as internal regulators to ensure each cell cycle stage is completed faithfully before proceeding to the next. Regulator molecules may act directly or influence the activity or production of other...
Cytoskeletal Proteins in Bacteria
Distribution of Cytoplasmic Content
Distribution of cytoplasmic determinants
The cytoplasm contains various organelles, as well as salts, proteins, and water. The distribution of small...
Bacterial Phylum Actinobacteria

