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Journal of Bacteriology, October 1998, p. 5327-5333, Vol. 180, No. 20
0021-9193/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

MinCD Proteins Control the Septation Process during Sporulation of Bacillus subtilis

Imrich Barák,* Peter Prepiak, and Falko Schmeisser

Institute of Molecular Biology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 841 51 Bratislava, Slovak Republic

Received 14 April 1998/Accepted 14 August 1998

Mutation of the divIVB locus in Bacillus subtilis causes misplacement of the septum during cell division and allows the formation of anucleate minicells. The divIVB locus contains five open reading frames (ORFs). The last two ORFs (minCD) are homologous to minC and minD of Escherichia coli but a minE homolog is lacking in B. subtilis. There is some similarity between minicell formation and the asymmetric septation that normally occurs during sporulation in terms of polar septum localization. However, it has been proposed that MinCD has no essential role in sporulation septum formation. We have used electron microscopic studies to show septation events during sporulation in some minD strains. We have observed an unusually thin septum at the midcell position in minD and also in minD spoIIE71 mutant cells. Fluorescence microscopy also localized a SpoIIE-green fluorescent protein fusion protein at the midcell site in minD cells. We propose that the MinCD complex plays an important role in asymmetric septum formation during sporulation of B. subtilis cells.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute of Molecular Biology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 841 51 Bratislava, Slovak Republic. Phone: 421 7 378 2152. Fax: 421 7 372 316. E-mail: umbibara{at}savba.savba.sk.

Journal of Bacteriology, October 1998, p. 5327-5333, Vol. 180, No. 20
0021-9193/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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