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Updated: May 20, 2026

Reconstitution of Septin Assembly at Membranes to Study Biophysical Properties and Functions
Published on: July 28, 2022
Crucial role for membrane fluidity in proliferation of primitive cells
Romain Mercier1, Patricia Domínguez-Cuevas, Jeff Errington
1Centre for Bacterial Cell Biology, Institute for Cell and Molecular Biosciences, The Medical School, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK.
Abstract:
The cell wall is a defining structural feature of the bacterial subkingdom. However, most bacteria are capable of mutating into a cell-wall-deficient "L-form" state, requiring remarkable physiological and structural adaptations. L-forms proliferate by an unusual membrane deformation and scission process that is independent of the conserved and normally essential FtsZ based division machinery, and which may provide a model for the replication of primitive cells. Candidate gene screening revealed no requirement for the cytoskeletal systems that might actively drive membrane deformation or scission. Instead, we uncovered a crucial role for branched-chain fatty acid (BCFA) synthesis. BCFA-deficient mutants grow and undergo pulsating shape changes, but membrane scission fails, abolishing the separation of progeny cells. The failure in scission is associated with a reduction in membrane fluidity. The results identify a step in L-form proliferation and demonstrate that purely biophysical processes may have been sufficient for proliferation of primitive cells.
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