ZipA Uses a Two-Pronged FtsZ-Binding Mechanism Necessary for Cell Division

In most bacteria, cell division is centrally organized by the FtsZ protein, which assembles into dynamic filaments at the division site along the cell membrane that interact with other key cell division proteins. In gammaproteobacteria such as Escherichia coli, FtsZ filaments are anchored to the cell membrane by two essential proteins, FtsA and ZipA. Canonically, this interaction was believed to be mediated solely by the FtsZ C-terminal peptide (CTP) domain that interacts with these and several other regulatory proteins. However, we now provide evidence of a second interaction between FtsZ and ZipA. Using site-specific photoactivated cross-linking, we identified a noncanonical FtsZ-binding site on ZipA on the opposite side from the FtsZ CTP-binding pocket. Cross-linking at this site was unaffected by the truncation of the FtsZ linker and CTP domains, indicating that this noncanonical site must interact directly with the globular core domain of FtsZ. Mutations introduced into either the canonical or noncanonical binding sites on ZipA disrupted photo-cross-linking with FtsZ and normal ZipA function in cell division, suggesting that both binding modes are important for normal cell growth and division. One mutation at the noncanonical face was also found to suppress defects of several other canonical and noncanonical site mutations in ZipA, suggesting there is some interdependence between the two sites. Taken together, these results suggest that ZipA employs a two-pronged FtsZ-binding mechanism. IMPORTANCE The tubulin homolog FtsZ plays a central early role in organizing bacterial cell division proteins at the cytoplasmic membrane. However, FtsZ does not directly interact with the membrane itself, instead relying on proteins such as FtsA to tether it to the membrane. In gammaproteobacteria, ZipA serves as a second essential membrane anchor along with FtsA. Although FtsA has a unique role in activating synthesis of the cell division septum, and ZipA may in turn activate FtsA, it was thought that both proteins interacted only with the conserved C terminus of FtsZ and were essentially interchangeable in their ability to tether FtsZ to the membrane. Here we challenge this view, providing evidence that ZipA directly contacts both the C terminus and the core domain of FtsZ. Such a two-pronged interaction between ZipA and FtsZ suggests that ZipA and FtsA may serve distinct membrane-anchoring roles for FtsZ.