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Updated: Mar 23, 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
Splitsville: structural and functional insights into the dynamic bacterial Z ring
Daniel P Haeusser1,2, William Margolin1
1Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, McGovern Medical School, 6431 Fannin Street, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
Abstract:
Bacteria must divide to increase in number and colonize their niche. Binary fission is the most widespread means of bacterial cell division, but even this relatively simple mechanism has many variations on a theme. In most bacteria, the tubulin homologue FtsZ assembles into a ring structure, termed the Z ring, at the site of cytokinesis and recruits additional proteins to form a large protein machine - the divisome - that spans the membrane. In this Review, we discuss current insights into the regulation of the assembly of the Z ring and how the divisome drives membrane invagination and septal cell wall growth while flexibly responding to various cellular inputs.
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