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.
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.
The helical bacterium Helicobacter pylori patterns cell wall synthesis using two distinct cytoskeletal proteins, CcmA and MreB, to achieve its characteristic shape.
The protein CpoB regulates PBP1B activity in response to the Tol energy state, which facilitates feedback and synchronicity between envelope constriction processes during Gram-negative bacterial cell division.
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.
Rod-shaped bacteria preserve their aspect ratios and surface-to-volume scaling by maintaining a homeostatic balance between the rates of cell elongation and division protein synthesis.
A new approach measures the respective participations of elementary cell behaviors – such as cell division, intercalation, shape change and death – in the shaping of animal tissues.
Physiological differentiation during symbiosis leads to division of labor between smaller and larger cells in an uncultured bacterial tubeworm symbiont population and results in remarkable metabolic diversity and complexity.
