Genetic analyses illustrate the novel requirement of Ftz-f1 and Sim in adult Drosophila ovaries for regulating follicle cell differentiation and ovulation that is likely conserved in mammals.
The architecture of the bacterial cytokinetic ring in cells and in artificial liposome reconstitutions has been described using electron microscopy, leading to a mechanism of constriction.
GpsB in Staphylococcus aureus directly regulates the central cell division protein FtsZ, a different function from that assigned for GpsB in other closely related organisms.
A minimal cell-like system with defined geometry has been used to investigate the establishment and spatial control of a protein gradient that positions the bacterial cell division machinery.
DNA-bound crystal structures of an essential Xer site-specific recombinase from the bacterium Helicobacter pylori reveal how large conformational changes initiate the untangling of chromosomes upon cell division.
Asymmetric cell division is linked to cell-specific transcription by handoff of a key developmental regulator from the cytokinetic machinery to the adjacent cell pole where it oligomerizes to become stabilized and activated.
Balanced peptidoglycan synthesis requires regulators, including sigma-I and WalKR, that coordinate the diffusive action of class A PBPs and the directional motion of the MreB-directed elongasome.
