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Published on: May 27, 2015
At the Heart of Bacterial Cytokinesis: The Z Ring
1Department of Microbiology, Molecular Genetics and Immunology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA.
Abstract:
Bacterial cell division is mediated by the divisome which is organized by the Z ring, a cytoskeletal element formed by the polymerization of the tubulin homologue FtsZ. Despite billions of years of bacterial evolution, the Z ring is nearly universal among bacteria that have a cell wall and divide by binary fission. Recent studies have revealed the mechanism of cooperative assembly of FtsZ and that the Z ring consists of patches of FtsZ filaments tethered to the membrane that treadmill to distribute the septal biosynthetic machinery. Here, we summarize these advances and discuss questions raised by these new findings.
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