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Updated: May 17, 2026

Super-resolution Imaging of the Cytokinetic Z Ring in Live Bacteria Using Fast 3D-Structured Illumination Microscopy (f3D-SIM)
Published on: September 29, 2014
Growth in width and FtsZ ring longitudinal positioning in a gammaproteobacterial symbiont
Nikolaus Leisch1, Jolanda Verheul, Niels R Heindl
1University of Vienna, Department of Genetics in Ecology, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
Abstract:
Rod-shaped bacteria usually grow in length and place their FtsZ ring and division site at midcell, perpendicular to their long axis [1,2]. Here, we provide morphometric and immunocytochemical evidence that a nematode-associated gammaproteobacterium [3,4] grows in width, sets a constricting FtsZ ring parallel to its long axis, and divides longitudinally by default. Remarkably, the newly described FtsZ ring appears to be not only 90° shifted with respect to model rods, but also elliptical and discontinuous. This reveals an unexpected versatility of the gammaproteobacterial cytokinetic machinery.
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