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Magnesium Modulates Bacillus subtilis Cell Division Frequency.

Tingfeng Guo¹, Jennifer K Herman¹

¹Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA.

Journal of Bacteriology

|December 14, 2022

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Extracellular magnesium (Mg²⁺) availability can alter Bacillus subtilis cell division frequency without impacting growth rate. This discovery offers new avenues for understanding the signals that regulate bacterial cell division.

Keywords:

Bacillus LB SigB UppS cell division magnesium manganese morphology undecaprenyl zinc

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Area of Science:

Microbiology
Cell Biology
Biochemistry

Background:

Cell division signals in microorganisms remain largely unknown.
Bacterial cell division is often considered intrinsic to the cell cycle.
Microorganisms can skip cell division rounds while continuing to grow and replicate DNA.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the role of extracellular magnesium (Mg²⁺) availability in modulating bacterial cell division frequency.
To determine if Mg²⁺ concentration can uncouple bacterial growth rate from cell division frequency.
To identify transcriptional changes associated with altered cell division.

Main Methods:

Culturing Bacillus subtilis under varying extracellular magnesium (Mg²⁺) concentrations.
Measuring cell length, growth rate, and division frequency.
Utilizing a riboswitch reporter to assess intracellular Mg²⁺ levels.
Analyzing gene expression changes using transcriptomic analysis (SigB, Fur, MntR, Zur regulons).

Main Results:

A specific window of extracellular Mg²⁺ availability shortened Bacillus subtilis cells without affecting growth rate.
Cell length reduction was proportional to increasing Mg²⁺ concentration (0.2–4.0 mM).
Excess Mg²⁺ led to increased cell division frequency, indicated by more FtsZ-rings per unit cell length and enhanced expression of stress-response and metal-uptake related genes.

Conclusions:

Extracellular Mg²⁺ concentration is a critical regulator that can uncouple bacterial growth rate from cell division frequency.
The study identifies Mg²⁺ as a potential signal for triggering cell division.
Findings suggest cell division is linked to the general stress response and demands for metal ion homeostasis.