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Application of Membrane and Cell Wall Selective Fluorescent Dyes for Live-Cell Imaging of Filamentous Fungi

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Published on: November 28, 2019

FtsZ-mediated spatial-temporal control over septal cell wall synthesis.

Longhua Hu^1,2, Amilcar J Perez^2,3, Tanya Nesterova^1,2

¹Department of Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

|June 30, 2025

Summary

FtsZ organizes bacterial cell division by guiding septal peptidoglycan synthesis. Initially, it ensures uniform cell wall construction, later becoming dispensable as FtsN takes over, ensuring robust cytokinesis.

Keywords:

Brownian ratchet FtsZ septal cell wall synthesis single-molecule microscopy theoretical modeling

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Area of Science:

Bacterial cell division
Microbiology
Biophysics

Background:

FtsZ is a tubulin-like GTPase crucial for bacterial cytokinesis.
It organizes the divisome, the complex responsible for synthesizing new cell wall.
FtsZ's precise role in spatial-temporally organizing the divisome for robust cell wall constriction remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

To elucidate the spatial-temporal organization mechanism of the bacterial divisome by FtsZ during cell wall constriction.
To understand how FtsZ regulates septal peptidoglycan synthesis and cell division in Escherichia coli.

Main Methods:

Theoretical modeling
Experimental validation in Escherichia coli

Main Results:

FtsZ treadmilling Brownian ratcheting acts as a template for FtsWIQLB-FtsN complex formation and homogenizes septal peptidoglycan synthesis at the early division stage.
FtsN density increases by binding to denuded peptidoglycan, activating FtsWIQLB for synthesis and making FtsZ dispensable at later stages.
This mechanism ensures robust and even cell wall constriction during bacterial cytokinesis.

Conclusions:

FtsZ plays a dual role in bacterial cell division, acting as an initial organizer and later becoming dispensable.
The study proposes a framework for FtsZ-mediated spatial-temporal regulation of septal cell wall constriction.
Variations in this mechanism may exist across different bacterial species.