Turgor Pressure and Possible Constriction Mechanisms in Bacterial Division.

dc.contributor.author

Osawa, Masaki

dc.contributor.author

Erickson, Harold P

dc.date.accessioned

2018-04-01T14:41:32Z

dc.date.available

2018-04-01T14:41:32Z

dc.date.issued

2018-01-31

dc.date.updated

2018-04-01T14:41:28Z

dc.description.abstract

Bacterial cytokinesis begins with the assembly of FtsZ into a Z ring at the center of the cell. The Z-ring constriction in Gram-negative bacteria may occur in an environment where the periplasm and the cytoplasm are isoosmotic, but in Gram-positive bacteria the constriction may have to overcome a substantial turgor pressure. We address three potential sources of invagination force. (1) FtsZ itself may generate force by curved protofilaments bending the attached membrane. This is sufficient to constrict liposomes in vitro. However, this force is on the order of a few pN, and would not be enough to overcome turgor. (2) Cell wall (CW) synthesis may generate force by pushing the plasma membrane from the outside. However, this would probably require some kind of Brownian ratchet to separate the CW and membrane sufficiently to allow a glycan strand to slip in. The elastic element is not obvious. (3) Excess membrane production has the potential to contribute significantly to the invagination force. If the excess membrane is produced under the CW, it would force the membrane to bleb inward. We propose here that a combination of FtsZ pulling from the inside, and excess membrane pushing membrane inward may generate a substantial constriction force at the division site. This combined force generation mechanism may be sufficient to overcome turgor pressure. This would abolish the need for a Brownian ratchet for CW growth, and would permit CW to operate by reinforcing the constrictions generated by FtsZ and excess membrane.

dc.identifier.issn

1664-302X

dc.identifier.issn

1664-302X

dc.identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10161/16449

dc.language

eng

dc.publisher

Frontiers Media SA

dc.relation.ispartof

Frontiers in microbiology

dc.relation.isversionof

10.3389/fmicb.2018.00111

dc.subject

bacterial division

dc.subject

cytokinesis

dc.subject

ftsZ

dc.subject

tubulin

dc.subject

turgor pressure

dc.title

Turgor Pressure and Possible Constriction Mechanisms in Bacterial Division.

dc.type

Journal article

duke.contributor.orcid

Erickson, Harold P|0000-0002-9104-8987

pubs.issue

JAN

pubs.organisational-group

School of Medicine

pubs.organisational-group

Duke

pubs.organisational-group

Duke Cancer Institute

pubs.organisational-group

Institutes and Centers

pubs.organisational-group

Biochemistry

pubs.organisational-group

Basic Science Departments

pubs.organisational-group

Cell Biology

pubs.publication-status

Published

pubs.volume

9

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